


Caught in the Crossfire (The Last of Us)

by orphan_account



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Multi, so ya, this is basically from ellie's pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2017-12-28 20:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/996535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Decisions used to be easy, huh? What time to wake up, what to wear, where to go. But now, it's a bit different, cause can you tell friend, from foe? Could you kill... could you do worse? If a loved one was infected, could you do the right thing? Could you put your life on the line for me? The way I would for you. Could you be, the last of us?'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. PROLOGUE

THE LAST OF US  
ELLIE'S POINT OF VIEW  
PROLOGUE  
I squirmed uncomfortably on the bus seat (which you really should call a block of foam-- 95% stringy seat filling, 5% dried up leather), adjusting my thin white earbuds.  
I watched the skinny-as-a-board lady stood up, the bus coming to a slow stop to the Boston quarantine zone. She held a clipboard in her hands, her fingernails long, the skin underneath soiled with cracks and dirt.  
She began calling out people's names, her dry attribute losing my attention.  
I glanced outside of the grimy window, a pair of soldier's gripping the two arms of man, kicking his knees out from under him. The soldier on the left held the scanner to the back of his neck for infection, the one on the right pressing the barrel of his gun to the side of the man's head.  
Watching as the scanner beeps positive, the soldier on the right pulls the trigger without hesitation.  
I clasp my hand over my mouth, instantly looking away as soon as I see his eyes roll back in his head. My stomach unsettles itself as I hear the sickening thump of his body, several kids on the bus shrieking.  
"Kids, kids, hush." The lady waved it off routinely.  
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the soldiers dragging his body across the pungent rubble, taking him to who knows where.  
"Ellie."  
"..Ellie."  
"Huh?" I say, drawing in a quick breath, whipping my head upwards.  
She raises an eyebrow, purses her lips, and makes a mark on her clipboard.  
63 names later  
Everyone hustled and bustled to get off of the bus, hoisting bags over shoulders and jackets onto torsos.  
I impatiently wait as the kids in front of me sluggishly get off, untwisting my headphones from my ears, placing them in my pocket.  
"Ellie?" I hear a familiar male's voice say.  
"Jerry?" I question, raising an eyebrow, looking around the crowd.  
I feel a tap on my left shoulder, whipping around to see the familiar face. Short, buzz-cut hair covered by a helmet, tired blue marbles for eyes.  
"Listen, kid. You can't pull any of your old stunts here, alright? I won't be here to look after you."  
"What? Can't you take me with you?" I ask, hating to sound this desperate.  
"I wish I could, but family comes first."  
I bite the inside of my lip, drawing blood. "Fine. I can take care of my own damn self, then."  
I watch as he walks away, the feeling bitter and cold in my stomach as I watch the only person to ever really care about me walked away. I didn't have a particularly strong bond with him, but a strong enough bond to keep me sheltered.  
The majority of the content of the bus is almost inside, the unbelievably slow walking ridiculous.  
I feel a hard tug on my bag, pulling me a bit backwards.  
I look over my shoulder, my vision a frenzy, looking for the tugger.  
A group of four-to-five boys my age is stood behind me, their grubby hands all reaching for my jacket pocket.  
I pull back my elbow, launching it into one of their chests, surely to cause a bruise. Not even from the force of the blow, but the momumental lack of body weight on them, which everyone here had.  
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I shout, standing my ground, fists balled up a my sides.  
"Keep your mouth shut, you little shit." The oldest-looking one snarls, his stubby hand reaching for my ponytail.  
"Leave her alone, you fuck," A girl's voice demands, walking in from the building I was about to enter. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
This girl had dark skin, textured hair up in a tight ponytail, much different from mine, loose with my side bangs hanging out lazily. She was dressed in a red hoodie and jeans. She looked older than me, 16 at the oldest.  
"Uh.." They all struggle to find a reason.  
"Huh? What was that? What'd you call her again..?," She puts her finger to her chin, pretending to think. "Oh yeah! You little shit." She says brusquely. "Get out." She points a harsh finger to the school building entrance.  
We both watch as they walk like a dog with it's tail between it's legs into the school, their heads hung low.  
"What did those assholes want from you?" She asks, shaking her head at them.  
"I'm pretty sure they were trying to steal my things." I blew out air between my lips, my eyebrows hanging high on my forehead for a moment.  
"Well, it seems like you stood up for yourself. How do ya do in the military zone? Need any help at all?" she questions, crossing her arms across her chest.  
"Eh." I say, making a hand motion as if waving off the subject.  
Before she can respond to me, she has a sudden flash of panic in her eyes, uncrossing her arms. "Listen, new kid, I gotta run. I suggest you do, too."  
"New kid?" I mumble, turning on my heels.  
My expression goes blank as I see an adult right on my tail, the thought of fleeing gone from my mind.  
"Come with me." He rudely says, walking inside.  
I groan as loudly as I please, figuring if I'm going to get in trouble, might as well get my money's worth.  
We wind through several corridors, reaching the closet-sized office he has.  
"Name?" He asks, sitting down at his desk, gesturing to the chair across from him for me to sit in.  
"Why should I tell you?" I quickly retaliate, refusing to sit down in his chair.  
"Name?" He repeats, his tone more firm.  
"Ellie." I bite the inside of my cheek, tearing at the loose skin.  
He flips through manila folders, names scrawled messily on little tabs, practicing a habit I found disgusting - licking his fingers as he fingered through each one.  
"Ah," He seperated mine from the rest, opening it. "Miss Ellie.. It seems.. you have quite the um.. attitude."  
He began to tick off the amount of wrong-doings I'm responsible of on his fingers, my gaze on the split floorboards, not listening to him put of boredom.  
"Miss," He says. "Cleaning duty. You may put your things in your room. Number 32."  
32 rooms and a sponge later  
I groan, squeezing the soaked sponge over the hood of the bloodied Jeep, the dried stuff seperating from the chipped paint.  
I reached into my jacket pocket, only to discover it empty. I'm sure I put my Walkman in my pocket a while ago..  
A sudden realization hits me. She stole it.  
Recoiling, I noticed something I didn't expect-- an amputated finger lodged in the front left wheel. I gagged, pouring the contents of the half-empty bucket on the tire, slick and black.  
I dropped the orange plastic bucket and (now pink) sponge in the mud, deciding it was 'good enough'.  
Now to find that thief.  
Mess Hall  
"Give me back my Walkman." I demand, approaching the girl from earlier.  
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She says, shoveling cardboard-colored mashed potatoes into her mouth. He puts her hand above the pouch of her hoodie, almost protectively. Leaning my head to the left a bit, I can see one of my white earbuds peeking out from the edge of the fabric.  
I point my index finger to her hoodie pocket, saying, "I see it right there. Give it back."  
She swallows, rolling her eyes as she reaches into her pocket. "You have a shitty taste in music."  
I intendedly snatched it from her cracked fingers, already worn out and exhausted from the day.  
A bowl of stew and 32 rooms later  
The cold pinches my skin, keeping me awake at the late hours of the night, the moonlight making its prescence well known through the blinds.  
The nearly-mute footsteps outside my door would've been no bother, unless it wasn't past curfew and everyone was asleep.  
I can only think that the girl is the one sneaking around the hallways.  
I quietly swing my legs over the side, grabbing my jacket again, rolling the sleeves to my elbows, pulling off my sleep pants, replacing them with jeans, slipping on my sneakers. I tug my hair into it's usual dirty ponytail, stealthily walking towards my beaten up door, the wood rotting right through the dark paint.  
I silently twist the doorknob, lifting it upward to make the door swing ajar.  
As I guessed, I saw the girl's red hoodie slink halfway out of the main doorway. Figures.  
"Hey!" I whisper-shout, loud enough for her to hear, but not enough for anyone else.  
She whips her head backwards, evidently distraught at the sudden noise. "Fucking hell, new kid," She breathes out uneasily. "Go back to your room."  
"No," I cross my arms, my feet solidly planted on the floor. "Show me a way out. And- stop calling me 'new kid'." I demand.  
She sighs, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows before finally saying, "Fine. Think you can keep up?"  
"Keeping up isn't an issue." I answer, following after her as she bolts out the door.  
"Don't make me regret bringing you along, Ellie." She snarls, darting across the yard, towards the metal-looped gate.  
"How'd you know my name?" I ask, puffing out struggled breaths, swinging my right leg over the side, the right leg following suit, dropping down onto a large rooftop.  
"I got my ways. I'm Riley," She says. I can't tell if she's joking or not. "Ready for what's next?"  
"Yep." I answer blindly, having no idea what I'm in for next.  
She continues racing on, my feet barely keeping up until she abruptly stops.  
"Is that," huff, "All you," huff, "Got?"  
She turns around, facing my pathetic bent over body, out of breath and nearly wheezing.  
"Do you ever think about your future?" She steadily questions, the milky moonlight reflecting off of her dark skin.  
"What? You mean, like sci-fi?" I ask, my assumption was her being facetious.  
"Do you ever think about your future. Like, what you want to do with your life?"  
"Well, in a world like this, I don't think there's much of a future for anyone." I state, raising my eyebrow at the odd question.  
Riley shakes her head, her chest softly rumbling with laughter. "That's exactly what authority wants you to think in the QZ."  
"Well what do you want to do?" I ask a bit defensively, furrowing my eyebrows.  
"I'm turning sixteen in about three months. Using that time to find out, I guess," she shrugs. "Ever ridden a horse?"  
This girls weird. "No."  
She walks to the edge of the rooftop we're on, climbing down the ladder (not-so-sturdily) placed on the crumbling brick. Halfway down, she uses one hand to hold open a window, swinging herself inside.  
I do the same, careful not to bump into her arm that was propping the window open.  
"Woah," I mumble, inspecting the area we were now in. Even though it obviously isn't at it's peek, its magnificent. There are windows with funny-postured mannequins, cage-like doors over entrances to shops, and a tiled floor with rubble sprinkled around it (otherwise slick).  
I laugh to myself, amused by one certain mannequins appearance, it's hand sat boldly on it's plastic hip, the other on it's head, jutting out their left hip. Mocking it, I see Riley rolls her eyes, a small laugh emitting her closed mouth.  
"Woah! Is that what I think it is?" I squeal, pointing at it.That's rare. I almost never squeal.  
But standing right in front of me is a store with a sign that says 'Raja's Arcade'. It's one of the few shops that doesn't have the strange cage thing over the entrance.  
"Wait, hold on a second!" I tell her, rushing quickly inside, recognizing one of the consoles. "It's Triple Pheonix! I remember this! It's a three-player. It was based off of a cartoon about mutated pigeons. Sounds dumb, I know, but its super popular."  
"Pfft. That's nothing. The Turning is what it's all about. The main character is this chick called Angel Knives- she'd punch a hole through your stomach, then kick your head off." She grinned.  
"Aw, man. I wish we could have these working.. They were so lucky back then." I jut out my bottom lip, putting my hand on one hip.  
"Come on," She says almost immediately after. "We're wasting time."  
I follow after her as she walks out, imagining what the arcade would've been like before the infection.  
I bet there were alot of kids there, annoyed parents, greasy cheeseburgers, scattered quarters, the screens all lit up, joyous faces of children on their tippy-toes as they jerked the joysticks back and forth, mashing the buttons. What I would give to be there..  
"Hey, Winston." Riley's voice snaps me back to reality.  
Riley is approaching a man who seems to be in his late-thirties, a fluffy hat over his head, a uniform on his body. He's sat in a corner on top of a mttress, soiled and defiled. Not that anything is really clean anymore. He's got a single lanternsat by his knee, empty cans of beans and peaches scattered along the floor around him.  
He quickly stands, his eyes shuffling towards me, then returning to Riley. "Who's she?" He points (not-so-subtly) towards me. "You know this'll only cause me trouble."  
I nervously rub on my arm, averting my eyes from them.  
"She's cool, don't worry," She persists. "Winston, this is Ellie. Ellie, this is Winston."  
"Hi." I say, extending my arm towards him, shaking his hand.  
"Listen, this girl doesn't know how to ride a horse," She says. "I'll give you whiskey." She singsongs the last part, her voice rising into a ting.  
"Fine." He chuckles. He seems kind, but maybe a bit paranoid. "Lets take her to the 'stables'." He uses air quotations.  
Winston walks ahead of Riley and I, my feet scuffing the tile as she explains how to act around the horses.  
"It really depends on what kind a' horse you've got. They all get spooked pretty easily, but some are nicer than others. You need to be calm, and you can't really make abrupt movements or sudden sounds. Pretty much, just be careful. And Winston- make sure to take her around the whole mall."  
That receives a grunt.  
We reach the make-do 'stables', which really- is just a pair of horses tied up to doorhandles. They both look pleasantly calm, their large eyes shiny and almost endearing.  
Riley begins to dust off the creamy tan one's leather saddle, a question popping up in my mind.  
"Are you trying to cause trouble? Just to get out of the Quarantine Zone?" I question as she places the saddle on it's back.  
"Well, you know, I'd rather not have a shitty life with next-to-nothing rations and jobs." She states firmly, looping the bridle on it's face, attatching the leather strap to Winston's hand.  
He helps my foot into the saddle, lifting me up so my right foot meets the other side.  
"Behave." He warns Riley.  
The horse's hooves clop in otherwise silence, his mane tangled and plasticy.  
"What was it like? Before it all went to shit?" I ask, looking for something to chat about.  
"Goodness.. Let's see if I can remember," He jokingly laughs. "I remember skipping school. A lot. Whether it was to play hooky and lay around all day, or come to the mall with a group of friends. Even though we got caught all the time, we still went back. Almost every Friday, in fact. We'd go to that arcade, Raja's, I think it was called? Anywho, we'd hide in the bathrooms during class, write the dumbest graffitti you could imagine on the bathroom stalls. Oh man, those were good times.." He goes on, enthralled by revisiting those memories, leaving him with a deep smile on his face.  
The trip was probably ten minutes, until we came back to find Riley on his mattress, reading a magazine.  
"Thanks for bringing me." I smile greatfully, dismounting the horse, a nod coming from her as she stands.  
I feel a rumble in my chest, lasting miliseconds before a loud boom swallows up my field of hearing. I feel a sudden shock of panic and fright saturating my senses.  
"I've gotta go!," Winston hollers over the boom. "Go back to the QZ!"  
He quickly ties up the horse, disappearing as Riley ignoring his orders.  
I turn to her, seeing her hands fiddling with a walkie-talkie, most likely Winston's.  
Somehow, over the now-fading boom, we both hear the six words scruffily spoken through the speakers.  
"Fireflies in the area. Move, move!"  
Riley's eyes perk up instantly, the sides of her mouth turning up, the first real smile I've seen from her. "Let's go! Come on, we have to see them!"  
"What the fuck? Are you insane?" I hiss, watching her spring up, dashing back up to the rooftop.  
I stand in awe, my feet getting ahead of my decision, sprinting towards her.  
I find Riley on the roof, her arms supporting her weight, perched near the edge, watching the chaos go down.  
Joining her, I see the military's tanks, rolling in over limp, lifeless bodies, shooting aimlessly into the crowd of Fireflies.  
Fireflies were carrying their wounded, their dead, lessening their group size.  
"Shit," Riley hisses. "We've gotta help them." I watch as she digs into her hoodie pocket, a copious amount of smoke bombs in her palm.  
I grin slyly, the both of us tossing the bombs at the military, blocking their view of the Fireflies.  
Once our hands are empty and the smoke has half-way cleared, Riley and I cheered like little girls who just got their first Barbie.  
I duck as soon as I hear the first shot swell the air, the military opening fire at us.  
Riley does the same, gesturing me to follow her as we make our way back down to the mall window.  
"Shit," I breathe heavily, my hands on my knees. "That was close."  
"No kidding." She sighs.  
"Riley, look out!" I scream, a runner homing in on her.  
I watch, my fingers fumbling in my jeans pocket for something, anything.  
The runner's gnashing teeth attatch themselves to her left hoodie sleeve, tearing the fabric from her arm, using her elbow to hit him in the horrid face.  
His attention is soon gone from Riley, but now focused on me. He staggers toward me, pinning me to the ground by the shoulders.  
My stomach churns, my hands clasping themselves around his neck, squeezing as hard as I could, his steamy, rotten breath permeating the air.  
His eyes are milky marbles, his skin beginning to grow fungus on the outside, the outside of his lips crusted with brown blood, bone dry.  
I feel terrified. I'm going to become that. I'm going to lose my mind, and I'm going to be just like them. I can't fight him off. Can I?  
"Hey fucker!" Riley screams, throwing what sounds like a handful of rubble at the back of his head. "Ellie, move to your right!"  
I do as told, using my legs to push him away from me.  
Riley picks up a heavy brick, throwing it at the back of his head. He collapses, my eyes avert from the aftermath.  
"Are you okay?" I almost wail, catching my breath.  
"Yeah.. Yeah, I'm fine. Just ripped my sleeve, is all." She said, wiping her forehead.  
"Uh.." I point behind her, a group of Fireflies walking up behind her.  
She turns around, ready to strike again, seeing it was not infected, but Fireflies.  
The one in front uses his elbow to hit her in the head, knocking her unconcscious.  
"What the fuck?," I scream, running to the man, pushing him forcefully in the chest. "You douchebag!" I punch his cheek, being pinned down for the second time in a single minute.  
"No!" I scream, kicking and flailing my legs, trying to hit whatever I could.  
I feel a dry, brittle rope bound around my wrists and ankles, a bag placed around my head.  
I continue to scream, my only defense left.

Two Hours Later

  
"Should we?"  
"I dunno man. Seems sketchy."  
"It's not worth it."  
"We might get something out of it, come on! Marlene won't find out."  
I wake up to this conversation, my eyes open but only seeing darkness.  
I begin to shake the bag around on my head, hoping they won't notice, successfully regaining my vision.  
I squint at the sidden brightness, the first thing coming to attention is Riley. I see her tied up and face covered in the same way, still asleep.  
I wriggle my hands around, shuddering at the dry feeling of rope, something I've always hated.  
My hands are finally set free, sore and scratchy.  
I glance back and forth between a shard of glass and the group of arguing Fireflies, my fingers almost touching the shattered piece of window.  
A woman walks in, tall and subtly broad-shouldered, her black, frizzy curls pulled into a low, short ponytail, her skin color matching Riley's, a medium caramel color.  
"Marlene, Is Kerry going to be okay?" One worriedly asks, folding his hands, almost as if in prayer.  
"Yeah, doctors say she's got a good chance of survival. She'll be fine." She softly smiles.  
Marlene walks towards me, raising an eyebrow at the bag and the rope limp on the floor.  
I extend my legs towards her, silently demanding them to be cut free.  
"Untie her." I point at Riley from across the wall.  
She nods, gesturing one of the Fireflies from the group over to Ellie.  
'Marlene' digs into her back pocket, pulling out a folded envelope, dropping it on the ground next to me.  
"Open that when you get back to the QZ." She orders.  
I nod, silent as I inspect the envelope, hearing Riley begin to argue with her.  
The envelope's paper is brittle, the edges stained with who-knows-what, the pen on the outside bleeding into a light blue color.  
'Ellie' it says.

My head darts up as soon as I hear the door burst open, three men pouring in, hunched over their guns.  
"Listen up," the one in front gruffly sneers. "You used one o' our tunnels. You gotta pay a toll."  
The room goes silent. Not one of us speaks, no one moves a single muscle.  
The man in front cocks his gun, and that's when I know I need to move.  
I tug on Riley's hand, hearing the first shot fired, heading towards the gaping hole in the wall.  
"No!" Riley says, pulling away from me. She runs near the man on the right from me, heading for the pistol on the ground.  
She's crazy. She's actually insane.  
Riley's just about to grab it, but the man she's near grabs her viciously by the hood, tugging her backwards, threateningly putting the barrel of the gun to her head.  
I pick up a brick, throwing it at the dickhead's neck. He loosens his grip on her hood, turning towards me.  
Riley grabs the gun, shooting him in the foot, causing him to collapse.  
Marlene runs over, stepping on his neck, and as soon as he opens his eyes, shoots his head.

I feel a pair of hands reach for my shoulders, looking behind me to see it's only a Firefly. But a douche-y one.  
I watch as the other two men were shot down, Riley and Marlene arguing once more.  
"You know, we could've just joined up! Don't know why you had to make it so fucking hard!" RIley screeches, Prompting Marlene to raise her gun.

"I will kill you." She threatens.  
I bite the Firefly's hand, their pistol clattering to the ground.  
I grab it, standing and pointing it at Marlene, walking closer to them.  
"I wasn't actually planning to shoot her. I have some morals left. Killing children isn't something I intend to do."  
Riley rolls her eyes at her 'children' comment, Marlene pointing the pistol towards the ceiling.  
She pulls the trigger, a warning shot. "Ellie."

"How do you know my name?" I demand, still not lowering the gun.  
"She knew your mother," Riley whispers. "..That envelope..."  
"Your mother wanted someone to look after you. And I did that. I got people.. Like Riley to do that." Marlene says, monotonously.  
I glance towards Riley, her brown eyes solid with truth.  
"What do I do?" I ask her.  
"Lower the gun."

I slowly lower the gun, my arms heavy and tired, placing it in Marlene's hands.  
"Her name was Anna," She says, shaking her head, looking blindly at the ground. "..I'll tell you more.. Just- not now."  
She points to the outside window, a ladder hanging over the ledge. "Goes right to the back of the school."  
"Before you go- Ellie, take this." She holds out a what looks like a folded switchblade. "It was hers."  
I take if from her cracked fingers, opening it. It glides open smoothly and is shiny and sleek, not showing it's age.  
"Thanks." I look up at her.  
Marlene nods, leaving the room as well as the rest of the Fireflies.  
Riley hops out of the window, onto the next rooftop. I follow after, her waiting for me at the bottom.  
"There isn't a way out from here, you know, Unless you want to climb the rooftops again. The ladder doesn't lead anywhere for shit." She crosses her arms.  
I groan, looking at the sky. It's beginning to get a hazy, half-asleep blue.  
"Maybe we should just bail." I suggest.  
"Bail? You mean, like- run away?" She uncrosses her arms, letting them swing at her sides.  
"Yeah." I shrug, lazily tightening my ponytail.  
She scoffs. "That's just another way to die. As if we didn't have enough."  
She begins to walk the same path that we did when we ventured into the mall, walking across the rooftops this time instead of running.  
The breeze is light and refreshing in the wee hours. I decide once I get back to my room, I'll read the note.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Okay?" Riley says as we approach the front of the school.  
"Okay." I say, watching her run up the stairs to her room.

32 rooms later

I plug my headphones into my Walkman, playing a random song I was neutral about. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the envelope and the switchblade, putting the blade in my lap.  
I carefully unfold the envelope, lifting out a fragile piece of paper, beginning to read.

I'm going to share a secret with you. I'm not a big fan of kids and I hate babies. And yet....I'm staring at you and I'm awestruck.

You're not even a day old, and holding you is the most incredible thing I've done in my life, a life that is about to get cut a little short.

Marlene will look after you. There's no one in this world I trust more than her. When the time comes she'll tell you all about me. Don't give her too much of a hard time. Try not to be as stubborn as me.

"That's a little late, mom." I chuckle a bit.

I'm not going to lie, this is a pretty messed up world. It won't be easy. The thing you always have to remember is that, "life is worth living! Find your purpose and fight for it."

I see so much strength in you. I know you'll turn out to be the woman you're meant to be.

Forever... Your loving mother,

Anna

Make me proud, Ellie!

I smile. I don't feel the least bit sad. Maybe it's because I never really knew her, or maybe it's because she had so much faith in me, even though I was only a baby.  
I hold the letter to my chest, along with the closed switchblade.  
"I love you, mom."

* * *

THE NEXT DAY

=THE LAST OF US  
ELLIE'S POINT OF VIEW  
PROLOGUE  
I squirmed uncomfortably on the bus seat (which you really should call a block of foam-- 95% stringy seat filling, 5% dried up leather), adjusting my thin white earbuds.  
I watched the skinny-as-a-board lady stood up, the bus coming to a slow stop to the Boston quarantine zone. She held a clipboard in her hands, her fingernails long, the skin underneath soiled with cracks and dirt.  
She began calling out people's names, her dry attribute losing my attention.  
I glanced outside of the grimy window, a pair of soldier's gripping the two arms of man, kicking his knees out from under him. The soldier on the left held the scanner to the back of his neck for infection, the one on the right pressing the barrel of his gun to the side of the man's head.  
Watching as the scanner beeps positive, the soldier on the right pulls the trigger without hesitation.  
I clasp my hand over my mouth, instantly looking away as soon as I see his eyes roll back in his head. My stomach unsettles itself as I hear the sickening thump of his body, several kids on the bus shrieking.  
"Kids, kids, hush." The lady waved it off routinely.  
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the soldiers dragging his body across the pungent rubble, taking him to who knows where.  
"Ellie."  
"..Ellie."  
"Huh?" I say, drawing in a quick breath, whipping my head upwards.  
She raises an eyebrow, purses her lips, and makes a mark on her clipboard.  
63 names later  
Everyone hustled and bustled to get off of the bus, hoisting bags over shoulders and jackets onto torsos.  
I impatiently wait as the kids in front of me sluggishly get off, untwisting my headphones from my ears, placing them in my pocket.  
"Ellie?" I hear a familiar male's voice say.  
"Jerry?" I question, raising an eyebrow, looking around the crowd.  
I feel a tap on my left shoulder, whipping around to see the familiar face. Short, buzz-cut hair covered by a helmet, tired blue marbles for eyes.  
"Listen, kid. You can't pull any of your old stunts here, alright? I won't be here to look after you."  
"What? Can't you take me with you?" I ask, hating to sound this desperate.  
"I wish I could, but family comes first."  
I bite the inside of my lip, drawing blood. "Fine. I can take care of my own damn self, then."  
I watch as he walks away, the feeling bitter and cold in my stomach as I watch the only person to ever really care about me walked away. I didn't have a particularly strong bond with him, but a strong enough bond to keep me sheltered.  
The majority of the content of the bus is almost inside, the unbelievably slow walking ridiculous.  
I feel a hard tug on my bag, pulling me a bit backwards.  
I look over my shoulder, my vision a frenzy, looking for the tugger.  
A group of four-to-five boys my age is stood behind me, their grubby hands all reaching for my jacket pocket.  
I pull back my elbow, launching it into one of their chests, surely to cause a bruise. Not even from the force of the blow, but the momumental lack of body weight on them, which everyone here had.  
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I shout, standing my ground, fists balled up a my sides.  
"Keep your mouth shut, you little shit." The oldest-looking one snarls, his stubby hand reaching for my ponytail.  
"Leave her alone, you fuck," A girl's voice demands, walking in from the building I was about to enter. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
This girl had dark skin, textured hair up in a tight ponytail, much different from mine, loose with my side bangs hanging out lazily. She was dressed in a red hoodie and jeans. She looked older than me, 16 at the oldest.  
"Uh.." They all struggle to find a reason.  
"Huh? What was that? What'd you call her again..?," She puts her finger to her chin, pretending to think. "Oh yeah! You little shit." She says brusquely. "Get out." She points a harsh finger to the school building entrance.  
We both watch as they walk like a dog with it's tail between it's legs into the school, their heads hung low.  
"What did those assholes want from you?" She asks, shaking her head at them.  
"I'm pretty sure they were trying to steal my things." I blew out air between my lips, my eyebrows hanging high on my forehead for a moment.  
"Well, it seems like you stood up for yourself. How do ya do in the military zone? Need any help at all?" she questions, crossing her arms across her chest.  
"Eh." I say, making a hand motion as if waving off the subject.  
Before she can respond to me, she has a sudden flash of panic in her eyes, uncrossing her arms. "Listen, new kid, I gotta run. I suggest you do, too."  
"New kid?" I mumble, turning on my heels.  
My expression goes blank as I see an adult right on my tail, the thought of fleeing gone from my mind.  
"Come with me." He prudely says, walking inside.  
I groan as loudly as I please, figuring if I'm going to get in trouble, might as well get my money's worth.  
We wind through several corridors, reaching the closet-sized office he has.  
"Name?" He asks, sitting down at his desk, gesturing to the chair across from him for me to sit in.  
"Why should I tell you?" I quickly retaliate, refusing to sit down in his chair.  
"Name?" He repeats, his tone more firm.  
"Ellie." I bite the inside of my cheek, tearing at the loose skin.  
He flips through manila folders, names scrawled messily on little tabs, practicing a habit I found disgusting - licking his fingers as he fingered through each one.  
"Ah," He seperated mine from the rest, opening it. "Miss Ellie.. It seems.. you have quite the um.. attitude."  
He began to tick off the amount of wrong-doings I'm responsible of on his fingers, my gaze on the split floorboards, not listening to him put of boredom.  
"Miss," He says. "Cleaning duty. You may put your things in your room. Number 32."  
32 rooms and a sponge later  
I groan, squeezing the soaked sponge over the hood of the bloodied Jeep, the dried stuff seperating from the chipped paint.  
I reached into my jacket pocket, only to discover it empty. I'm sure I put my Walkman in my pocket a while ago..  
A sudden realization hits me. She stole it.  
Recoiling, I noticed something I didn't expect-- an amputated finger lodged in the front left wheel. I gagged, pouring the contents of the half-empty bucket on the tire, slick and black.  
I dropped the orange plastic bucket and (now pink) sponge in the mud, deciding it was 'good enough'.  
Now to find that thief.  
Mess Hall  
"Give me back my Walkman." I demand, approaching the girl from earlier.  
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She says, shoveling cardboard-colored mashed potatoes into her mouth. He puts her hand above the pouch of her hoodie, almost protectively. Leaning my head to the left a bit, I can see one of my white earbuds peeking out from the edge of the fabric.  
I point my index finger to her hoodie pocket, saying, "I see it right there. Give it back."  
She swallows, rolling her eyes as she reaches into her pocket. "You have a shitty taste in music."  
I intendedly snatched it from her cracked fingers, already worn out and exhausted from the day.  
A bowl of stew and 32 rooms later  
The cold pinches my skin, keeping me awake at the late hours of the night, the moonlight making its prescence well known through the blinds.  
The nearly-mute footsteps outside my door would've been no bother, unless it wasn't past curfew and everyone was asleep.  
I can only think that the girl is the one sneaking around the hallways.  
I quietly swing my legs over the side, grabbing my jacket again, rolling the sleeves to my elbows, pulling off my sleep pants, replacing them with jeans, slipping on my sneakers. I tug my hair into it's usual dirty ponytail, stealthily walking towards my beaten up door, the wood rotting right through the dark paint.  
I silently twist the doorknob, lifting it upward to make the door swing ajar.  
As I guessed, I saw the girl's red hoodie slink halfway out of the main doorway. Figures.  
"Hey!" I whisper-shout, loud enough for her to hear, but not enough for anyone else.  
She whips her head backwards, evidently distraught at the sudden noise. "Fucking hell, new kid," She breathes out uneasily. "Go back to your room."  
"No," I cross my arms, my feet solidly planted on the floor. "Show me a way out. And- stop calling me 'new kid'." I demand.  
She sighs, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows before finally saying, "Fine. Think you can keep up?"  
"Keeping up isn't an issue." I answer, following after her as she bolts out the door.  
"Don't make me regret bringing you along, Ellie." She snarls, darting across the yard, towards the metal-looped gate.  
"How'd you know my name?" I ask, puffing out struggled breaths, swinging my right leg over the side, the right leg following suit, dropping down onto a large rooftop.  
"I got my ways. I'm Riley," She says. I can't tell if she's joking or not. "Ready for what's next?"  
"Yep." I answer blindly, having no idea what I'm in for next.  
She continues racing on, my feet barely keeping up until she abruptly stops.  
"Is that," huff, "All you," huff, "Got?"  
She turns around, facing my pathetic bent over body, out of breath and nearly wheezing.  
"Do you ever think about your future?" She steadily questions, the milky moonlight reflecting off of her dark skin.  
"What? You mean, like sci-fi?" I ask, my assumption was her being facetious.  
"Cute. Do you ever think about your future. Like, what you want to do with your life?"  
"Well, in a world like this, I don't think there's much of a future for anyone." I state, raising my eyebrow at the odd question.  
Riley shakes her head, her chest softly rumbling with laughter. "That's exactly what authority wants you to think in the QZ."  
"Well what do you want to do?" I ask a bit defensively, furrowing my eyebrows.  
"I'm turning sixteen in about three months. Using that time to find out, I guess," she shrugs. "Ever ridden a horse?"  
This girls weird. "No."  
She walks to the edge of the rooftop we're on, climbing down the ladder (not-so-sturdily) placed on the crumbling brick. Halfway down, she uses one hand to hold open a window, swinging herself inside.  
I do the same, careful not to bump into her arm that was propping the window open.  
"Woah," I mumble, inspecting the area we were now in. Even though it obviously isn't at it's peek, its magnificent. There are windows with funny-postured mannequins, cage-like doors over entrances to shops, and a tiled floor with rubble sprinkled around it (otherwise slick).  
I laugh to myself, amused by one certain mannequins appearance, it's hand sat boldly on it's plastic hip, the other on it's head, jutting out their left hip. Mocking it, I see Riley rolls her eyes, a small laugh emitting her closed mouth.  
"Woah! Is that what I think it is?" I squeal, pointing at it.That's rare. I almost never squeal.  
But standing right in front of me is a store with a sign that says 'Raja's Arcade'. It's one of the few shops that doesn't have the strange cage thing over the entrance.  
"Wait, hold on a second!" I tell her, rushing quickly inside, recognizing one of the consoles. "It's Triple Pheonix! I remember this! It's a three-player. It was based off of a cartoon about mutated pigeons. Sounds dumb, I know, but its super popular."  
"Pfft. That's nothing. The Turning is what it's all about. The main character is this chick called Angel Knives- she'd punch a hole through your stomach, then kick your head off." She grinned.  
"Aw, man. I wish we could have these working.. They were so lucky back then." I jut out my bottom lip, putting my hand on one hip.  
"Come on," She says almost immediately after. "We're wasting time."  
I follow after her as she walks out, imagining what the arcade would've been like before the infection.  
I bet there were alot of kids there, annoyed parents, greasy cheeseburgers, scattered quarters, the screens all lit up, joyous faces of children on their tippy-toes as they jerked the joysticks back and forth, mashing the buttons. What I would give to be there..  
"Hey, Winston." Riley's voice snaps me back to reality.  
Riley is approaching a man who seems to be in his late-thirties, a fluffy hat over his head, a uniform on his body. He's sat in a corner on top of a mttress, soiled and defiled. Not that anything is really clean anymore. He's got a single lanternsat by his knee, empty cans of beans and peaches scattered along the floor around him.  
He quickly stands, his eyes shuffling towards me, then returning to Riley. "Who's she?" He points (not-so-subtly) towards me. "You know this'll only cause me trouble."  
I nervously rub on my arm, averting my eyes from them.  
"She's cool, don't worry," She persists. "Winston, this is Ellie. Ellie, this is Winston."  
"Hi." I say, extending my arm towards him, shaking his hand.  
"Listen, this girl doesn't know how to ride a horse," She says. "I'll give you whiskey." She singsongs the last part, her voice rising into a ting.  
"Fine." He chuckles. He seems kind, but maybe a bit paranoid. "Lets take her to the 'stables'." He uses air quotations.  
Winston walks ahead of Riley and I, my feet scuffing the tile as she explains how to act around the horses.  
"It really depends on what kind a' horse you've got. They all get spooked pretty easily, but some are nicer than others. You need to be calm, and you can't really make abrupt movements or sudden sounds. Pretty much, just be careful. And Winston- make sure to take her around the whole mall."  
That receives a grunt.  
We reach the make-do 'stables', which really- is just a pair of horses tied up to doorhandles. They both look pleasantly calm, their large eyes shiny and almost endearing.  
Riley begins to dust off the creamy tan one's leather saddle, a question popping up in my mind.  
"Are you trying to cause trouble? Just to get out of the Quarantine Zone?" I question as she places the saddle on it's back.  
"Well, you know, I'd rather not have a shitty life with next-to-nothing rations and jobs." She states firmly, looping the bridle on it's face, attatching the leather strap to Winston's hand.  
He helps my foot into the saddle, lifting me up so my right foot meets the other side.  
"Behave." He warns Riley.  
The horse's hooves clop in otherwise silence, his mane tangled and plasticy.  
"What was it like? Before it all went to shit?" I ask, looking for something to chat about.  
"Goodness.. Let's see if I can remember," He jokingly laughs. "I remember skipping school. A lot. Whether it was to play hooky and lay around all day, or come to the mall with a group of friends. Even though we got caught all the time, we still went back. Almost every Friday, in fact. We'd go to that arcade, Raja's, I think it was called? Anywho, we'd hide in the bathrooms during class, write the dumbest graffitti you could imagine on the bathroom stalls. Oh man, those were good times.." He goes on, enthralled by revisiting those memories, leaving him with a deep smile on his face.  
The trip was probably ten minutes, until we came back to find Riley on his mattress, reading a magazine.  
"Thanks for bringing me." I smile greatfully, dismounting the horse, a nod coming from her as she stands.  
I feel a rumble in my chest, lasting miliseconds before a loud boom swallows up my field of hearing. I feel a sudden shock of panic and fright saturating my senses.  
"I've gotta go!," Winston hollers over the boom. "Go back to the QZ!"  
He quickly ties up the horse, disappearing as Riley ignoring his orders.  
I turn to her, seeing her hands fiddling with a walkie-talkie, most likely Winston's.  
Somehow, over the now-fading boom, we both hear the six words scruffily spoken through the speakers.  
"Fireflies in the area. Move, move!"  
Riley's eyes perk up instantly, the sides of her mouth turning up, the first real smile I've seen from her. "Let's go! Come on, we have to see them!"  
"What the fuck? Are you insane?" I hiss, watching her spring up, dashing back up to the rooftop.  
I stand in awe, my feet getting ahead of my decision, sprinting towards her.  
I find Riley on the roof, her arms supporting her weight, perched near the edge, watching the chaos go down.  
Joining her, I see the military's tanks, rolling in over limp, lifeless bodies, shooting aimlessly into the crowd of Fireflies.  
Fireflies were carrying their wounded, their dead, lessening their group size.  
"Shit," Riley hisses. "We've gotta help them." I watch as she digs into her hoodie pocket, a copious amount of smoke bombs in her palm.  
I grin slyly, the both of us tossing the bombs at the military, blocking their view of the Fireflies.  
Once our hands are empty and the smoke has half-way cleared, Riley and I cheered like little girls who just got their first Barbie.  
I duck as soon as I hear the first shot swell the air, the military opening fire at us.  
Riley does the same, gesturing me to follow her as we make our way back down to the mall window.  
"Shit," I breathe heavily, my hands on my knees. "That was close."  
"No kidding." She sighs.  
"Riley, look out!" I scream, a runner homing in on her.  
I watch, my fingers fumbling in my jeans pocket for my switchblade, realizing I'd left it back in my room.  
The runner's gnashing teeth attatch themselves to her left hoodie sleeve, tearing the fabric from her arm, using her elbow to hit him in the horrid face.  
His attention is soon gone from Riley, but now focused on me. He staggers toward me, pinning me to the ground by the shoulders.  
My stomach churns, my hands clasping themselves around his neck, squeezing as hard as I could, his steamy, rotten breath permeating the air.  
His eyes are milky marbles, his skin beginning to grow fungus on the outside, the outside of his lips crusted with brown blood, bone dry.  
I feel terrified. I'm going to become that. I'm going to lose my mind, and I'm going to be just like them. I can't fight him off. Can I?  
"Hey fucker!" Riley screams, throwing what sounds like a handful of rubble at the back of his head. "Ellie, move to your right!"  
I do as told, using my legs to push him away from me.  
Riley picks up a heavy brick, throwing it at the back of his head. He collapses, my eyes avert from the aftermath.  
"Are you okay?" I almost wail, catching my breath.  
"Yeah.. Yeah, I'm fine. Just ripped my sleeve, is all." She said, wiping her forehead.  
"Uh.." I point behind her, a group of Fireflies walking up behind her.  
She turns around, ready to strike again, seeing it was not infected, but Fireflies.  
The one in front uses his elbow to hit her in the head, knocking her unconcscious.  
"What the fuck?," I scream, running to the man, pushing him forcefully in the chest. "You douchebag!" I punch his cheek, being pinned down for the second time in a single minute.  
"No!" I scream, kicking and flailing my legs, trying to hit whatever I could.  
I feel a dry, brittle rope bound around my wrists and ankles, a bag placed around my head.  
I continue to scream, my only defense left.

Two Hours Later

  
"Should we?"  
"I dunno man. Seems sketchy."  
"It's not worth it."  
"We might get something out of it, come on! Marlene won't find out."  
I wake up to this conversation, my eyes open but only seeing darkness.  
I begin to shake the bag around on my head, hoping they won't notice, successfully regaining my vision.  
I squint at the sidden brightness, the first thing coming to attention is Riley. I see her tied up and face covered in the same way, still asleep.  
I wriggle my hands around, shuddering at the dry feeling of rope, something I've always hated.  
My hands are finally set free, sore and scratchy.  
I glance back and forth between a shard of glass and the group of arguing Fireflies, my fingers almost touching the shattered piece of window.  
A woman walks in, tall and subtly broad-shouldered, her black, frizzy curls pulled into a low, short ponytail, her skin color matching Riley's, a medium caramel color.  
"Marlene, Is Kerry going to be okay?" One worriedly asks, folding his hands, almost as if in prayer.  
"Yeah, doctors say she's got a good chance of survival. She'll be fine." She softly smiles.  
Marlene walks towards me, raising an eyebrow at the bag and the rope limp on the floor.  
I extend my legs towards her, silently demanding them to be cut free.  
"Untie her." I point at Riley from across the wall.  
She nods, gesturing one of the Fireflies from the group over to Ellie.  
'Marlene' digs into her back pocket, pulling out a folded envelope, dropping it on the ground next to me.  
"Open that when you get back to the QZ." She orders.  
I nod, silent as I inspect the envelope, hearing Riley begin to argue with her.  
The envelope's paper is brittle, the edges stained with who-knows-what, the pen on the outside bleeding into a light blue color.  
'Ellie' it says.

My head darts up as soon as I hear the door burst open, three men pouring in, hunched over their guns.  
"Listen up," the one in front gruffly sneers. "You used one o' our tunnels. You gotta pay a toll."  
The room goes silent. Not one of us speaks, no one moves a single muscle.  
The man in front cocks his gun, and that's when I know I need to move.  
I tug on Riley's hand, hearing the first shot fired, heading towards the gaping hole in the wall.  
"No!" Riley says, pulling away from me. She runs near the man on the right from me, heading for the pistol on the ground.  
She's crazy. She's actually insane.  
Riley's just about to grab it, but the man she's near grabs her viciously by the hood, tugging her backwards, threateningly putting the barrel of the gun to her head.  
I pick up a brick, throwing it at the dickhead's neck. He loosens his grip on her hood, turning towards me.  
Riley grabs the gun, shooting him in the foot, causing him to collapse.  
Marlene runs over, stepping on his neck, and as soon as he opens his eyes, shoots his head.

I feel a pair of hands reach for my shoulders, looking behind me to see it's only a Firefly. But a douche-y one.  
I watch as the other two men were shot down, Riley and Marlene arguing once more.  
"You know, we could've just joined up! Don't know why you had to make it so fucking hard!" RIley screeches, Prompting Marlene to raise her gun.

"I will kill you." She threatens.  
I bite the Firefly's hand, their pistol clattering to the ground.  
I grab it, standing and pointing it at Marlene, walking closer to them.  
"I wasn't actually planning to shoot her. I have some morals left. Killing children isn't something I intend to do."  
Riley rolls her eyes at her 'children' comment, Marlene pointing the pistol towards the ceiling.  
She pulls the trigger, a warning shot. "Ellie."

"How do you know my name?" I demand, still not lowering the gun.  
"She knew your mother," Riley whispers. "..That envelope..."  
"Your mother wanted someone to look after you. And I did that. I got people.. Like Riley to do that." Marlene says, monotonously.  
I glance towards Riley, her brown eyes solid with truth.  
"What do I do?" I ask her.  
"Lower the gun."

I slowly lower the gun, my arms heavy and tired, placing it in Marlene's hands.  
"Her name was Anna," She says, shaking her head, looking blindly at the ground. "..I'll tell you more.. Just- not now."  
She points to the outside window, a ladder hanging over the ledge. "Goes right to the back of the school."  
"Before you go- Ellie, take this." She holds out a what looks like a folded switchblade. "It was hers."  
I take if from her cracked fingers, opening it. It glides open smoothly and is shiny and sleek, not showing it's age.  
"Thanks." I look up at her.  
Marlene nods, leaving the room as well as the rest of the Fireflies.  
Riley hops out of the window, onto the next rooftop. I follow after, her waiting for me at the bottom.  
"There isn't a way out from here, you know, Unless you want to climb the rooftops again. The ladder doesn't lead anywhere for shit." She crosses her arms.  
I groan, looking at the sky. It's beginning to get a hazy, half-asleep blue.  
"Maybe we should just bail." I suggest.  
"Bail? You mean, like- run away?" She uncrosses her arms, letting them swing at her sides.  
"Yeah." I shrug, lazily tightening my ponytail.  
She scoffs. "That's just another way to die. As if we didn't have enough."  
She begins to walk the same path that we did when we ventured into the mall, walking across the rooftops this time instead of running.  
The breeze is light and refreshing in the wee hours. I decide once I get back to my room, I'll read the note.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Okay?" Riley says as we approach the front of the school.  
"Okay." I say, watching her run up the stairs to her room.

32 rooms later

I plug my headphones into my Walkman, playing a random song I was neutral about. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the envelope and the switchblade, putting the blade in my lap.  
I carefully unfold the envelope, lifting out a fragile piece of paper, beginning to read.

I'm going to share a secret with you. I'm not a big fan of kids and I hate babies. And yet....I'm staring at you and I'm awestruck.

You're not even a day old, and holding you is the most incredible thing I've done in my life, a life that is about to get cut a little short.

Marlene will look after you. There's no one in this world I trust more than her. When the time comes she'll tell you all about me. Don't give her too much of a hard time. Try not to be as stubborn as me.

"That's a little late, mom." I chuckle a bit.

I'm not going to lie, this is a pretty messed up world. It won't be easy. The thing you always have to remember is that, "life is worth living! Find your purpose and fight for it."

I see so much strength in you. I know you'll turn out to be the woman you're meant to be.

Forever... Your loving mother,

Anna

Make me proud, Ellie!

I smile. I don't feel the least bit sad. Maybe it's because I never really knew her, or maybe it's because she had so much faith in me, even though I was only a baby.  
I hold the letter to my chest, along with the closed switchblade.  
"I love you, mom."

  
THE NEXT NIGHT  
Riley and I climb the rooftops past the mall, just to venture out and see what we can find.

"What'd you think of your mom's letter?" Riley asks, kicking along a stone.

"It wasn't what I expected. She sounded pretty positive for this shithole of a world. Or she was pretending for my sake." I shrug, following after."Marlene told me she was a great woman. She loved you alot." Riley smiled. I crack a half-grin, nodding my head. "I bet she was."

A few secondsof silence dawn on us, appreciating the sudden peace.

But I feel a pair of hands grab me by the arm. I see Riley being grabbed, too.

I instinctively bash the evident runner in the face with my elbow, my left arm fumbling for the switchblade in my right back pocket.

I scream, feeling the runner's teeth sink into my right forearm.

Panic is all I'm feeling.

My heart is rapidly beating, warmth spreading through my chest.

The pain isn't as even half as bad as my panic.

I finally open the switchblade, puncturing it in the neck, watching it as it screeched, crumbling to the ground.

I run over to Riley, stabbing through it's neck as well, stomping on it's head for good measure.

I wipe off the blade, shakily returning it to my back pocket.

"Riley.." I quiver, walking over to her.

I watch her. She's just- staring at it. Staring at the bite. Her eyes are blank, her mouth trembling.

"Guess that's it, then.." She whispers after what feels like a lifetime.

"..What's it?" I ask, lifting up my sleeve to look at my own bite, already beginning to dampen my sleeve.

It looks like a smaller version of a shark bite, like a half-oval. It's dripping crimson, my stomach doing cartwheels at the sight.It's already starting to swell up, a small group of bumps formed on my skin.

"Our lives. We're done. That-" She points to the corpses on the ground. "Is what we'll become. And all we'll ever be."

"Riley-"

"Why don't we just wait it out? Ya know, we could just.. be all poetic and lose our minds together." She suggests, throwing her hands up in the air.

 

"Okay." I whisper. We walk fifteen, maybe twenty feet away from the corpses, then crossing our legs, sitting down.

I take out the switchblade and the note again, reading my mother's swoopy handwriting over and over and over again, flipping the knife from open to closed. _"Life is worth living! Find your purpose and fight for it."_

I tried. And I'm sorry. I've already let you down.. But Mom, I know I'll be with you soon, and I can't wait to meet you.

"Do you think we'll see each other in heaven? Like, does the person's soul die? ..Or does the infection die with it?" Riley questions.

"I guess we'll find out soon, won't we?"

We just sit and make idle conversation, the both of us not wanting to be crybabies. Death happens to everyone at some point.

_3 hours later_

-past tense-

I ran away from Riley as soon as her shoulders started to twitch.

"Goodbye, Riley. I'll miss you." I whispered as I walked away, heading towards the Firefly base that we were in last night. I planned to find Marlene.

I never succumbed to the infection. Marlene decided she was to take me to Salt Lake City, in order to reverse-engineer a cure.

I miss you, Riley.

 


	2. [P1]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! im so sorry for not updating in a while, i've yet to find the time to sit down and write. So to any of you who are reading this, i'm going to update this week. promise! :) (10/20/13)

THREE WEEKS LATER

ELLIE'S POINT OF VIEW

* * *

My eyes glance up, seeing he doorhandle jiggle back and forth, struggling to get open.

I stand, flipping the blade out, preparing to strike.

The first thing I see is Marlene, crumbling to the ground, clutching her right side.

A gruff-looking man with a husky voice bent down to Marlene, saying, "Come on, now. Get on up."

He brushed her shoulder, but before he could touch her any further I yelled, "Get the fuck away from her!" Making the appearance of my knife obvious.

"Hey, hey, hey-" A woman from behind him says, holding me back by grabbing my wrist.

"Let her go." Marlene orders from the ground, prompting the woman to harshly let go.

"You're recruitin' kind of young, aren't you?" He asks in a southern accent as Marlene struggles to stand.

"She's not one of mine." She glances at me for a second.

"Shit." I curse under my breath, taking her right arm. "What happened?" I slip the switchblade into my pocket.

"Don't worry, this is fixable," She assures me as she leans against a metal table. "I got us help." She subtly nods to them.

I glance back at them, inspecting their appearances.

He's got a medium green plaid shirt on, rolled up to his elbows. Dark jeans, work boots. His hair isn't long and it isn't short, it's somewhat medium. It's a salt and pepper color, as well as the heavy stubble on his chin and sides of his face, as well as his upper lip. He was probably in his mid-forties.

She had a dark magenta shirt on with the sleeves cut off, a button-up style with an undershirt. Her hair was a little longer than shoulder length, brown and half-up with a blue hair tie. Dark jeans and work boots as well. She might've been mid-to-late thirties. They both had backpacks slung onto their shoulders, and they both had sweat saturate their skin, making the clothes stick to their bodies, as well as the dirt.

"But I can't come with you." Marlene finishes her sentence.

My eyebrows hang low on my forehead, my mouth half open. "Well then I'm staying."

"Ellie. We won't get another shot at this."

"Hey-" The guy says from behind me. "We're smuggling  _her?_ " He points at me, one of his eyebrows raised.

Marlene nods as she speaks. "There's a crew of Fireflies that'll meet you at the Capitol building."

The woman scoffs. "That's not exactly close."

Marlene's calm composure is shaken a little. "You're capable. You hand her off, come back, the weapons are yours.  _Double_ what Robert sold me."

"Speaking of which, where are they?" She sneers.

"Back in our camp."

She lets out a small deriding sound, glancing back to the guy with his arms crossed. "We're not smuggling  _shit_ until I see them."

Marlene quietly sighs. "You'll follow me.. You can verify the weapons, I can get patched up.." She points to me. "But  _she's_ not crossing to that part of town. I want Joel to watch over her."

Ah. His name's Joel.

He uncrosses his arms. "Woah, woah, woah I don't think that's the best idea-"

"Bullshit! I'm not going with him!" I overlap his words, gesturing to him.

"Ellie-" she cuts both of us off.

"How do you know them?" I persist.

"I was close with his brother, Tommy. Said if I was ever in a jam, I could rely on him."

Joel seemed pissed. "Was that before or after he left your little militia group?"

"He left you too. He was a good man.." She nods.

The woman approaches Joel and says, "Look, just- take her tot he north tunnel and wait for me there."

He shakes his head, mumbling, "Jesus Christ.." Under his breath.

"She's just cargo, Joel." She shrugs, her arms extended. Not so sure if I like being talked about that way.

I sigh, quietly whispering, "Marlene.."

"No more talking.. You'll be fine." She uneasily assures. "Now go with him." She nods to Joel.

"Don't take long." He pleas to the woman across from him. "And you-" he looks to me. "Stay close. Let's go."

I look at Marlene again, knowing there's no chance for me to stay.

Once we're outside, I see two corpses laying on the dried up grass and concrete, limp and lifeless.

"Whoa. I heard all the shooting, but.. What happened?" I question.

He hesitates for a second. "The Fireflies. Same things gonna happen to us if we don't get off the street."

I sigh. "You're the pro. I'm just following you."

I follow him down a set of stairs where a variety of shops and food places are, while the speakers drone on the familiar female voice we hear every night.

"Attention: harboring or aiding wanted criminials is punishable by death. Do not place yourself at risk. Report any suspicious activity immediately."

"Down here." He says, leading me down a tunnel-like thing made out of brick. "Come on, keep up." He persists as we reach the open air again.

"I am." I sigh, ducking as the trucks and tanks make their curfew check.

He leads me down an alleyway, which grows into a 'backyard' for broken down apartment buildings.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Up there," He nods to a broken fire escape. "that'll get us to the north tunnel."

"How are we supposed to reach that..?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"Just gimme a minute." He says, walking further off to the left of me, then dragging out a medium sized dumpster.

He drags it to the bottom, hopping on up.

I do the same, catching my breath as I ask, "This tunnel. You use it to smuggle things?"

"Yep."

"Like illegal things?"

"Sometimes."

"You ever smuggle a kid before?"

"No. That's a first." All his answers seem tired and aggrivated. "So what's the deal with you and Marlene, anyways?"

I woodenly sigh, "I dunno. She's my friend, I guess."

"Your friend, huh?," He says sarcastically. "You're friends with the leader of the Fireflies. What're you, like twelve?"

"She knew my mom, and she's been looking after me. And I'm  _fourteen._ Not that has anything to do with..  _anything._ _"_ I roll my eyes as we walk down a run down hallway.

"So where  _are_ your parents?"

"Where are anyone's parents? They've been gone a long, long time." I sigh again.

"Hm. So instead of just staying in school, you just decide to run off and join the Fireflies, is that it?" He sardonically asks.

_I didn't have a choice._

"Look, I'm not supposed to tell you why you're smuggling me if that's what you're getting at." I say, us turning a corner, finally fed up with his dickish attitude.

"You wanna know the best thing about my job? I don't gotta know why. Be honest with you, I could give two shits about what you're up to."

"Well great." I cynically beam from behind him.

"Good."

He opens up a splintery white door, closing it as I walk in.

"This is it." He says, his hand lazily gesturing to the room.

It has a small tan couch, a rug, a desk, and a loveseat in the corner of the room. Everything looks much more depressed in the dark night than it usually would be.

He scuffs his boots over to the couch, brushing off the dust, patting the pillow, and lays down.

"What are you doing?" I raise an eyebrow and scrunch my face a little.

"Killing time." He says with his eyes closed.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" I raise my eyebrows a bit.

"I am sure you will figure that out."

I sigh quietly, glancing behind me for any sort of entertainment. Nothing. Looking at him as I walk past, I see his forehead is riddled with deep set wrinkles, his left arm's watch cracked into a spiderweb.

"Your watch is broken."

All he does is make an abrupt 'psh' sound, ignoring the observation.

I take a seat near the window, watching the outside. It really is gorgeous. The rain is leaving thick veins of water on the glass of the window, droplets framing the vessels.

Tons of little lights from sniper rifles illuminate the sky, the speckles of light swaying back and forth. 

The stars are amazing. They're sprinkled along the dark sky, glowing and holding in all their enigmatic power.

_30 minutes later_

I hear him mumble a girl's name. Sarah. He seems awfully distraught by the way he's mumbling and grumbling in his sleep.

"You mumble in your sleep," I say as he opens his eyes. "I hate bad dreams."

He sluggishly sits up, holding his head up on his right hand. "Yeah, me too."

He stands up, walking behind the seat I'm sitting in.

"You know, I've never been this close." I turn to him. "To the outside." I gesture out the window.

"..Look how dark it is." I marvel, unfolding my knees from my chest.

He stays silent, but fiddles underneath a lampshade near the couch until it flickers on.

"Can't be any worse out there," I mumble. "Can it?.." I stand up, waiting for a reply.

"What on earth do the Fireflies want with you?" He asks, his voice with an edge.

"Hey." The woman from before enters. Really should learn her name. "Sorry it took so long. Soldiers fuckin' everywhere." Her voice wavers in a small laugh towards the end.

"How's Marlene?" I ask anxiously as she walks towards Joel.

"She'll make it." She nods. She seems alot less bitchy when she isn't making a deal. "I saw the merchandise. It's a lot." She nods to him.

"Wanna do this?" She quickly turns her head from me to him again.

"Yeah." He hesitates answering.

"Let's go."

They both lead me into a new room, Joel beginning to speak to her.

"Don't you think it's a bit strange that they're havin' us do their smugglin'?"

"Marlene wanted to do it herself. We weren't her first choice. Or the second, for that matter. She's lost a lot of men. Beggars can't be choosers."

"Yeah, let's just hope there's someone alive to pay us." Can't tell if he's being sarcastic or genuine, or both.

"Someone'll be around." She assures as she goes to the back wall. She pulls back a bookcase, revealing a large gaping hole in the wall. "Come on." She waves us over.

All three of us slide through the dusty, slightly moldy wall. Not that I'm complaining.

She leads me to a wooden platform with metal bolts, Joel striding over to what looks like a gas motor.

He tugs on the string three times, each time making the motor clunk and gurgle and sputter louder.

He presses the button, turning to the lady next to me.

"Who's waitin' for us at the drop off?"

"She says there's some Fireflies that have traveled all the way from another city," She says as we start going downwards. "Girl must be important." She turns her head to me.

"What  _is_ the deal with you? You some big-wig's daughter or something?"

Not even close.

"Something like that." I sigh as we lurch to a stop. "How long is this all gonna take?"

"If everything goes as planned, we should get you to them in a few hours. Ellie, once we get out there, I need you to follow our lead and stay close."

"Yeah," I nod. "Of course."

We follow after Joel through another hole in the wall, only this one was much smaller in comparison.

The sides of the tunnel have scraps of wood and dirt, little lanterns placed along the top every few feet.

Exiting through an open vent on the ground, we're now in a room with a few cloth bins and a ladder.

"Climb up and check if the coast is clear." She orders Joel.

He does as ordered, lifting the wooden pallet and poking out his head for a good look at our situation.

"Now hold up," He leans back. "There's a patrol up ahead."

He waits a few seconds before speaking again. "Alright.. We're good, come on up."

"C'mon kid." He says, waiting to cover the hole with the pallet again. "Watch your step."

"This rain ain't gonna do us any good." He sure seems a _lot_ more talkative around her.

"Holy shit..," I whisper. "I'm _actually_ outside."

We climb over a crate, the lumpy rocks underneath my Converse poking at my feet, the rain saturating my skin.

Joel leads us two into a crashed delivery truck, a faded illustration of a red lobster on the side, it's claws extended. I giggle a little at the drawing.

"Up this way." 

Once he's towards the opening, he puts his hands out, touching either side of the truck, his head looking from left to right. Not that it did him any good.

He gets bashed in the head with a soldier's assault rifle, causing him to fall to the ground with a groan.

"Don't do anything stupid." The female soldier orders, shining her gun's light on me and her.

I just hold my hands up in defense, knowing they'd order us to do it eventually.

"Move." The male soldier barks at my frozen stature.

I do so, standing on the left side of Joel, her on the right.

"Turn around. On your knees." The female soldier declares.

Joel picks himself up again, balancing himself on his knees, putting his arms to his head.

"You scan 'em. I'll call it in." She says to the male.

As soon as I hear those words, my heart starts beating a mile a minute.

"Put your hands on your head." He orders her, holding her at gunpoint.

"This is Ramirez at Sector Twelve," The female says as the guy pulls out his scanner, walking behind her. "Requesting pickup for three stragglers.. Understood."

"Look the other way," She says as he holds the scanner to her neck. "We can make this worth your while."

"Shut up." He snarls, removing it as it beeps negative.

"I'm getting tired of this shit." He mumbles through his helmet as he goes to scan Joel. Negative.

"What's the ETA?" he asks.

"Couple of minutes." She replies.

I'm surprised he can't hear my heartbeat, removing it from his neck, moving to me.

I squirm, my arms shivering from both the cold of the rain and the nerves.

"Oh man. Oh man." I whisper as quiet as I could. Joel and his partner can't know, but I can't die, either.

I reach into my pocket, unfolding my switchblade.

Without thinking, I act. Something I do far too often. I jab it into his kneecap, yelling, "Sorry." As if I meant it, hearing the scanner beep.

With him a little distracted from the stab, I reach for his pistol, but he throws me to the ground with an animalistic force.

He points the pistol towards me, fires, but is pushed to the ground by Joel. I watch as she points her pistol at the female, all too shocked to raise her assault rifle. With two shots, the soldier's dead.

Joel is still struggling with the male soldier, pointing his pistol to the soldier's head, pulling the trigger. Dead.

"Oh.. Oh fuck." I exclaim, backing up against a wooden box next to the truck. "I thought we were just gonna- hold them up or something."

I anxiously watc as she picks up the scanner, reading the screen.

"Oh, shit." She groans as she comes to terms with the result. "Look." She carelessly tosses it to Joel.

"Jesus Christ.." He mumbles, swinging his head towards me. "Marlene set us up? Why the hell are we smugglin' an infected girl?" He asks with disgust.

I shake my head rapidly, "I'm not infected." I feel like sobbing then and there.

"No? So was this lying?" He sneers, throwing the scanner near my elbow.

"I can explain." I need to before the slaughter me into tiny pieces.

"You better explain fast." She orders, holding up her pistol.

I roll up my sleeve, showing them the horrid bite. Swollen and bumpy. "Look at this!" I exclaim worriedly.

"I don't care how you got infected." Joel waves it off.

"It's  _three weeks_ old." I promise, my eyebrows hanging low, turned up at the front, scared and worried like a lost puppy.

"No. Everyone turns within two days," She says quickly. As if I didn't know. "So you  _stop_ bullshitting."

"It's three weeks. I swear." I make small head movements, trying anything to convince them. "Why would she set you up?"

They both stay silent, and she raises her gun.

"..I ain't buyin' it." Joel shakes his head after few seconds. "Oh, shit."

I see sniper rifle lights. Oh, shit indeed.

"Tess, run." He grabs her by the hand. At least I know her name now. "RUN!"

"Go. Go! MOVE!" Tess yells, helping me get up as I quickly put on my backpack.

We each jump down a small crater in the dead grass, an opening just big enough for us to fit through between the wall and the ground.

"Holy shit!" I hear one soldier exclaim from where we were.

"I got two dead uniforms. I repeat, I got two casualties in Sector Twelve. Requesting immediate backup."

"Follow me, Quickly," Tess says, all three of us hiding behind a big, fallen lamp post. "Alright, Ellie. When I give you the signal, we run."

I nod.

"Now. Run."

I follow Tess, Joel running slightly in front of us. All three of us hide behind an excavator and a broken down car, the blaring signal from our intrusion ringing throughout the entire area.

"Go, go!" Tess shouts as the start to shoot, dropping into a small hole where they dig, filled up with rainwater. "Here, through here!" She yells to Joel.

"Joel, hurry!" He's now trailing behind.

"Wha- what're we gonna do?" I panic as we awkwardly squat-walk through a drainage tunnel/sewer thing.

"Just stay close to us!"

"God damnit, they're everywhere." Joel mumbles as he catches up.

As we drop into another little rainwater hole, she whispers to Joel, "Soldiers, right there."

"I see 'em. I see 'em." He says quickly.

"They must've gotten through. Check the trenches!" One soldier yells.

_Don't check the trenches._

  
_  
_"Just stay back." Joel mumbles as he gets ahead of us. "Just stay down, don't let 'em see you." He says to me in particular.

"Come on, kid. Follow Joel." Tess says.

I do as told, sneaking behind the soldiers perched above us.

"I hear 'em up ahead." Joel whispers.

We bend down and walk again, hiding behind panels of wood as a soldier is about 50 feet away from us. The real benefit from this rain was it did a fairly good job at masking out bodies.

Joel reloads his pistol, cocks it, and aims for the guys head right in his field of vision, then as soon as he turns to Joel, he's dead.

Blatantly sneaking past another soldier, we're now (sort of) inside of a burned out building, the foliage taking over it's appearance.

"We can get through here." Joel says, relieved as we approach a secluded metal sliding gate.

He pulls the chain, the rust not exactly making it the quietist of sounds, but, Ah, well.

"Down through here."  
"Come on, Ellie." Tess helps me under the half open gate.

She holds it open for Joel, letting him slip through.

Fucking god. More soldiers.

"Oh shit, another patrol, everybody get down." Tess orders. We all bend back down, my legs and back starting to get sore. Better get used to it.

We all hide behind a broken down cop car, myself declaring, "There are so many of 'em out here. How're we supposed to get past 'em?"

"They ain't spotted us yet, let's go around." Joel suggests as we run forward.

We approach yet another inferno-eaten building, brown and burnt.

"Oh, shit, they're in here with us." Joel half-groans.

"Fuck it." Tess says.

She runs, avoiding each bullet with ease, dragging me along by my hand, Joel following close on our tail.

We each hop down into another trench, a numb feeling in the bottoms of my feet.

Once we walk through another drainage tunnel, we're in a new building, not seeming to see any soldiers.

"Yeah, this looks right." Tess voices.

"Well, at least we're out of the rain." Joel shrugs.

"How's it lookin'?" Tess asks Joel as we walks ahead of us, up the stairs.

"I think we can squeeze through here.." He inspects as he squeezes through another tunnel. Just barely.

"Shit, shit. I got more soldiers." He whispers, taken aback a little.

"Targets still on the loose, sir!" One says, swinging around his flashlight from above us.

"Break off pursuit and report back to Sector Eleven."

"I don't think they see us.." He says as we move forward. "Stay in the shadows."

We climb over several pipes, feeling safe enough to stand up as we enter another room, sort of a basement.

"Are we safe..?" I ask as he scavenges the area, picking up what seems to be ammo.

"No. They're still around. Look, take a moment to catch your breath," I nod. "Joel, see if there's anything we can use in here.

"Sure thing, boss." He says sarcastically, picking up more things.

I lean back against a wall, taking in all that's happened. I got put with two strangers. I almost got shot. Twice. And they found out I was infected. Good day.

Once Joel was done, he turned to the left. "Tess, up through here, through this pipe. I think we can make it through here."

"Stay very close, Ellie." Tess says as he turns his flashlight on, revealing all the nasty yuck down here.

"Okay."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on," he drawls as tanks pass the grated metal above us as we exit the pipe. "Jesus."

I sigh with relief, hearing the next soldier's words: "Gather up. They're callin' us back! We're returning to the wall!"

"You heard the man. Load them up. Let's go! Let's go!"

We walk a few more feet ahead, waiting for Joel to unlock the gate door to the cramped, flooded highway.

I plant my ass on the sodden soil, Joel saying, "Alright, they're gone." with relief.

I sigh, shivering and fiddling with the hems of my long, black sleeved undershirt. ..You know, to cover the bite.

Tess' breath is shaky as she bends down to me. "Look- what was the plan? Let's say that we deliver you to the Fireflies. What then?"

"Marlene.. She said that they have their own little quarantine zone, with doctors there still trying to find a cure," I say with my habit of hand gestures.

"Yeah, we've heard that before, huh Tess?" Joel apprehensively looks over to her.

I subtly sigh at his dick attitude. "And that..," I lower my head, sighing and shaking it. "Whatever happened to me is the key to finding a vaccine."

"Oh, Jesus." I can tell he doesn't buy it.

I scoff. "It's what she said."

"Oh, I'm sure she did." 

I'm fed up.

"Hey, fuck you man, I didn't ask for this." I stand up, broadening my shoulders.

"Me neither. Tess, what the hell are we doing here?"

She stands. "What if it's true?" I like Tess a whole lot better. At least, right now.

Joel glances at me unbelievably, his mouth agape. He throws his hands out by his sides. "I can't believe-"

"What  _if,_ Joel? I mean, we've come this far, let's just finish it."

He harshly grabs her shoulder. "Do I need to  _remind you_ what is out there?" He points to his left.

I wipe rainwater from underneath my nose as Tess turns to me. "I get it," She says.

She dismissively walks ahead of him, me following with both my hands on my hips unintentionally, looking like a teacher scolding one of her students.

"This way. If we cut through downtown, we can reach the capitol building by sunrise." Tess says.

He sighs."We hope."

 


	3. [P2]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. it's been a minute. or three months. LET'S GET TO WRITING. SHALL WE?

P2

ELLIE'S POINT OF VIEW

* * *

We climb up a slippery wooden ramp, the ran continuing to pelt at our skin. 

"Holy moley. I guess this is what these buildings look like up close." I marvel, craning my neck to gaze at the tilted skyscrapers. "They're so damn tall. ..So what happened here?" I ask, observing all of the crashed cars, broken glass, just general mess.

"They bombed the hell out of the surrounding areas to the quarantine zones, hoping to kill as much of the infected as possible," Tess spoke. "It worked- for a little while."

We walked on for a few more moments, a rumble of thunder taking over the sky, triggering a horrid screech from further away.

"Uhhh, what the hell was that?" I ask, as we approach a small hill of broken tile.

"Tess, do ya hear that?" Joel questions, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah. Sounded pretty far away though."

"Shit. Are we safe?" I asked, adjusting the straps of my backpack, avoiding a hazardous puddle.

"For now. Come on." She gestured as we reached the top of the small hill of floor tile and mud.

Tess and I look over the edge, an uneasy feeling settling itself in my stomach.

"Damn.. that's quite a drop." I mumble.

"Well, there's the capitol building." Joel observes, scratching his chin as he looks to his right, past a worn down, broken building.

"Yeah. We need to get around this mess." Tess nods.

"..This is the downtown area?" I ask, feeling annoying. I sure am asking alot of questions.

Tess shrugs. "It was. Now it's a giant wasteland.."

"Over here." Joel leads us three past a small pile of cement bricks, slick with rainwater as we climb over it.

We're on a rooftop, groups of puddles scattered in uneven patterns, the raindrops adding to their masses.

Joel heads over to the right side, observing the shadey looking wall of sniper lights.

"You find anything over there?" He asks.

"No."

"Keep lookin'."

"Should I do anything?" I question, antsy to help out, do  _something_  at least.

"You just stay close to her for now." Joel says. Obviously, he doesn't trust me to do anything. Most adults don't.

"Roger dodger." I sigh.

Tess moves around pieces of rock, digging her fingers into the mud for signs of bullets, while I stand against the wall.

Several streams of water are flowing from the little roof of an extra couple of rooms, landing in the mud. The grass is weighed down by all the rainwater, the tips matted down.

"Hey, Tess!" Joel eventually says after a few minutes, switching on his flashlight.

"Comin'."

I follow, entering the door Joel's stood in. The mangled, dead body of a soldier lays helplessly on the ground. On the wall behind him are thick streaks of blood. His face is so bloodied and messed up you could hardly tell it's a person.

"He's been ripped apart.." Tess observes.

"Yeah.." He mumbles.

"Body's pretty fresh." She continues.

"I-is that bad?" I question, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, might be. Let's not stick around." Tess suggests, turning to Joel.

He nods, avoiding the dead man's legs as we head into the next room, which shows a set of staircases.

We ascend them, and-surprise! Another dead soldier.

"Another one.. Shit." Tess mumbles as Joel picks up a clipboard by the dead man's side.

He scans over the scrawled handwriting. "Looks like these guys died waiting for backup."

We head up the rest of the stairs, and by the sign, it was evident we were at the fifth floor.

We enter the next room, and yet, another dead thing right before our eyes.

It's body was dried out and brittle, leaning up against a door. His head had the cordyceps spread onto the door, a disgusting fungus.

"Goddammit. Clicker." Joel gritted his teeth.

"Geez," I mumble as he grips it's shoulders, preparing to rip it away from the door. "What's wrong with it's face..?"

"That's what years of infection'll do to you." Tess explains.

"So what, are they.. blind?"

"Sort of," She says as Joel pries it from the door with a grunt. "They see using sound."

"Like bats?"  
"Like bats. If you hear one clicking, you gotta hide. That's how they spot you."

Joel bashes his shoulder against the fungus-ridden door, but to no avail. One last time, it budges open.

We walk in, the floor beneath us a bit soggy and uneven.

"Shit." I murmur.

"Whole building feels like it's gonna fall apart." Joel shakes his head as he searches a desk drawer.

He gathers a bottle of pills, crouching down underneath a falling bookcase.

"Watch your head." He warns as we follow.

In the next room, it looks like an office area, with broken computers and half-empty coffee mugs. Tacked up on desks are crayon illustrations their children drew. Family portraits. Sticky notes.

My heart races as an office chair with wheels rolls to to the other side of the tilted room.

"Totally cool.. Everything is totally cool." I calm myself, gripping my wrist, feeling my rapid pulse.

Joel struggles with the next door handle, waving Tess over. "Gimme a hand with this."

One. Nothing. Two. Nothing. Three, it screeches open.

Before I can walk in, Tess yells. "Joel!"

He whips his head to the left, a horrid clicking sound filling my ears.

The fungus-helmeted thing attacks him, knocking Joel to the ground. Joel manages to grab the clicker's neck, preventing it from nipping at his skin.

Tess kicks the clicker's side, knocking it to the floor, it's arms clawing at the air. Her foot is placed on it's chest, and with two pulls of the trigger, he's dead.

Tess turns around to Joel, his body pulled up off the ground.

"Thanks." He says with labored breath.

"You alright?" I ask, a bit worried.

"It's nothin'." He brushes it off.

"Let's search for supplies." Tess suggests, putting her pistol back into her pocket.

She steps over the dead body, my eyes widening as we head into the room across.

"Shit! Oh, that was intense!" I say, my voice weighed down by heavy breath.

"You said it." Tess agrees.

Tess and Joel search the cabinets for any supplies, while I look at the boring, run down soda machine. The tacky design on it says, 'Special Cola'. The big, square buttons have pictures of other sodas on them. Arctic Rain, Mr. Peppy, Lemon-Lime, and other ridiculous names.

After a few minutes pass by of me wondering what they tasted like, a few bone-chilling clicks are heard further off.

"Come on. Let's get the hell out of here." Joel orders.

"Oh, boy.." He murmurs as we enter the next room.

"Up there, look." Tess points.

Up on a balcony type thing, a dead man is flung over the side. His arms are by his head, groups of vines crawling down the walls.

"Yeesh." I bite my lip.

Joel approaches the balcony thingy, bending his knees and holding out his hand as a cup.

"Just, see if there's a way through." He says to Tess as she steps into his hand, using his shoulders as support for her upper body.

She grunts, pulling herself up the wall, swinging her legs over.

She looks behind her, using her flashlight to see through the darkness.

"It's clear. Come on, Ellie."

"Alright, kid. You're up." He says grudgingly as I approach the wall.

"Come on." Tess says as I jump for her hand, grabbing hold of it. A troubled grunt escapes my mouth as I try and pull my own weight. "You got it. There you go."

I stand, stretching out my legs.

"Okay. Come on, big guy. Gimme your hand." She bends down once more to Joel, extending a hand.

I'm amazed at her upper-body strength as she pulls him up, squinting her eyes as she gets him up here.

"Okay." She sighs, catching up with her breath. But there wasn't much time to catch up.

"Clickers?!" She panics, guiding me by the shoulder into the next room.

"Oh shit. Go, go, go." Joel follows.

All three of us crouch behind a desk, myself holding my breath. I try to be as quiet as possible.

The clicker at the door continues the noise. It seems as this sound will haunt me in my dreams. If I ever  _do_ get to sleep.

I close my eyes in fear as I feel a change in weight on the top of the desk, a clicker leaning over the top.

They eventually leave, due to lack of noise, returning to their previous spot.

I watch Tess' fingers (which never seem to shake in fear), reach for a stray glass bottle on the ground.

She launches it over the desk, into the third clicker's head. They let out a loud, groaning click as it makes impact.

We quietly crouch-walk to the next hiding spot,  Joel picking up a brick. He throws it across the room to where we were previous, the noise drawing the clicker towards it.

"That's our way out. Over the scaffolding." Tess whispers to Joel as quietly as possible.

He nods, crouch-walking to the scaffolding, cupping his hands for her to boost in once more.

We repeat the same process, jumping over the platform.

"I think that's it. Ellie, you okay?" Tess asks.

I sigh, adjusting my backpack strap. "Other than shitting my pants- I'm fine."

"Let's go." She nods.

Joel climbs over the top of a blocked staircase, "Gimme a second." He says.

He grips a filing cabinet, dislodging it from the descending staircase.

"Here you go, ladies." He says, once there's enough room for us to drop down.

I grip the railing with one hand, swing my legs over, and let go, dropping to the ground.

"Allright. Come on." Tess says as Joel climbs over the filing cabinet.

We reach the next stairwell, but it's too blocked for us to move the barricades.

"Stairwell's blocked.. Should we go back up?" I suggest.

Tess leans out the window we're stood by, her hands gripping the window washer platform. "Aaghh, this is crazy," She pulls herself over it. "Just.. don't look down." She warns me.

"Wha-? Are you serious?" I question her sanity.

Knowing there's no use in protesting, I tightly grip the railing, swinging myself over as well. My stomach is queasy with the shake of the platform, the slickness of the rain not doing us any better.

Joel follows after without a word after, my stomach dropping as I jump down from this platform to the next one.

"C'mon Ellie." Tess gestures. She's standing with her back against the wall of the building. I've never been fond of heights.

"Yeah.." I say, copying her movements. "Don't look down," I whisper to myself as we begin to inch across the side of the building. "Just don't look down."

"You're okay. We gotta way through." Tess assures me.

We reach a new window, which is conveniently close (and broken).

Joel jumps in after us, descending the stairs.

As we head through the darkness of the next room, I hear the familiar sputtering groan of runners. A bad memory. 

"Runners." Tess quietly groans.

"I'll go check it out," Joel volunteers. "Stay with the girl."

Toss nods reluctantly as he heads out.

"So what was it like before the world went to shit?" I asked.

"For me?" She asked.

"Why not."  
"Well, it was a hell of alot better than this. It had it's ups and downs."

"How'd you meet Joel?"

"Oh, Jesus. Can hardly remember. I think it was-"

Gunshot. Gunshot. Gunshot.

"Guess that's that." Tess says, cracking her neck as Joel speaks with heavy breath.

"Alright, come on down."

Tess whistles as we make our way to him. "I'm impressed, Joel."

Scattered around the ground are several bodies, each with bloodied faces and fatal wounds, to the head, to the chest. 

"Pssh. Let's just get out of here."

We move foeward, entering a big room, tangled in vines and 'CAUTION' tape. Not that it did much good anymore.

Joel pulls himself up a large slab of concrete, Tess and I following.

He approaches a dark green door, his rogh hands gripping the filing cabinet that was in his way. It must've been damn heavy, because the fucking thing would barely budge.

However, with a bit of extra force, the wheels scraped across the floor.

"Tess, come on."

"Alright, hold on."

Tess and I rush into the next room, myself spotting a laundry cart in the corner. Seems like it'll keep the door open.

"Here, this'll work." I point out. patting the top of it.

"Alright, gimme a hand Ellie." We both push it into the doorway, letting Joel release his grip with a grunt.

"Okay. Alright, that should do it." Tess says, observing our work.

"Alright." Joel nods.

He climbs over the cart, landing to the ground with a thump.

"See- doin' alright." Tess says, her breath heavy.

"Uh-huh." Joel says plainly.

He collects a bottle of cleaning alcohol, dampens a rag with it, and carefully wraps it around his forearm.

"Whoa.." I gaze as we walk through the door, the floor we're standing on unfinished, torn apart i the middle, revealing the floor below.

"Down we go." Tess says, turning to the left, making our way down a slab of cement.

"Let's get to it." he leads us. "We can get through here. Watch your back." He warns as we crouch under the cramped space.

We drop down to the next area, the dirt spong and the grass slippery,

"Y'know I was thinkin'..," We make a turn. "after we get back, we can take it easy for a while." Tess says to joel.

I wonder what their whole 'relatonship' is. Dating? Partners? Just two smugglers trying to get by?

We slink underneath a little tunnel.

"You wanna take it easy?" Joel asks, clearly not prepared for her suggestion.

"Hey, you're the one always goin' on about laying low." She defends herself.

"And  _you_ always brushed me off." You can practically hear the stern eyebrow raise in his voice.

"Well. I won't this time." She shrugs as we can finally stand.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Oh, couple arguments.

Joel leads us into yet another hole in the wall, a dried, dead body hanging from the side.

I do my best to ignore it as I climb in after Tess, my sneakers squeaking against the wet concrete.

We reach the end of the hole, Joel pulling himself up onto the ground above, then Tess, then me. I do my best to avoid the sparkling stream of rainwater falling from the ceiling.

We carefully make our way under a half-broken ceiling chunk, made of tacky orange tile and encrusted with deep green mold. We drop down from another platform, the water settling itself in puddles in the bottoms of my shoes. I hate soggy socks.

Joel grabs a pair of scissors and tape. He quickly combines the two, making it into what looks like a shiv.

"Joel, through here." Tess says, walking through a mess of crashed drywall and rocks and signs.

I follow behind them, bracing myself as I drop my feet into the shallow water. I really, really hope I won't have to swim. This looked like a subway station, maybe.

"Look at his sleeve," Tess observes a we approach. At her feet is the helpless body of a dead man. "Firefly."  
She's right. The Firefly symbol is imprinted around his shoulder, splattered with blood stains.

"Yep," Joel says, leaning down by his side. "These guys aren't doin' well in or out of the city." He picks up a glass bottle from the ground, filled with an amber liquid. "Now let's hope there's someone alive to meet us at the drop off."

What if there isn't? What would we do? I wonder.

I turn with releuctance, following Tess up the stairs, Joel stopping to pick up a note from another dead body.

"They're from the quarantine zone." He says after scanning over it.

"See? They're not our guys." Tess raises an eyebrow, in an ' I told you so ' manner.

Walking back down, the two of them wave around their flashlights, looking for any useful supplies.

Every place we turn is blocked off, until Joel comes across a small space in a blockade we find in the doorway.

As soon as we crouch under, we hear the alarming and unfortunately familiar noises of clickers. 

"Over there," Joel whispers. "See 'em?"

"Shit.." Tess groans under her breath. "God, we're almost out," She peeks over a countertop. "Okay, Joel, you take point, I'll watc the rear. Ellie," She turns to me with cautious eyes. "No matter what, you stay right on his heels,"

"Sure." I nod.

"You stay sharp." She says.

"I got it." Joel says quietly as I hide behind the brick of concrete.

I watch with careful eyes as Joel crouch-walks forward, avoiding any possibly hazardous noise-makers.

I copy his actions with silent feet as I move to his side, bending down so my shadow doesn't disturb the glow of his flashlight.

We're literally  _right next_ to clicker who is bent on it's knees, it's head trashing from side to side.

My heart races as a clicker comes up from behind. it's legs staggering across the floor. I grudgingly, slowly move my feet across the floor, trying as hard as I could not to make any noise as I catch up with Joel.

The three of us jump into the neighboring room of the hallway, our feet's impact with the ground only drawing a particularly loud click.

All of us move from hiding spot to hiding spot, behind payphones, benches, movie signs.

We jump in to the next room, Joel whspering, "This way. We're almost out of this, Come on."

Joel approaches a particular clicker in our way, stands, and hooks his forearm around the clicker's neck. He takes out the shiv and buries it into it's neck, causing it to fall to the ground without a sound.

He looks up to the ceiling, where a metal ladder rests.

"Alright, c'mon." He says as Tess steps into his cupped hand. She easily grabs the ladder, sliding it to the ground.

Joel climbs up it first wiith careful feet, then Tess, then I. The three of us walk through a hole in the wall, then dropping to the ground. I'm just glad we're out of that fucking place.

There's another gaping hole in the wall, the size of a small house, maybe, and we walk through it, back outside.

"Which way we goin', Tess?" Joel asks, clearly exasperated from keeping around this cargo for so long.

"Uh..," She scratches her chin. "Capitol building's in this direction." She points in front of her as she looks at the dark skyline.

We walk for a few seconds of silence, until yet another problem awaits. "How do we get over this truck? ..Let see what we can find.."

The truck has an illustration of a bright red crab on it, extending it's pinchers. The trucks' too high for a boost..

I watch Joel as he approaches a building with the side knocked out, looking from side to side.

I'm a bit further away, so i can't see. He pulls out the bottle of amber liquid again and prepares to launch. What good would a bottle do? Judging from the lack of noise, there were no clickers.

He launches it, the bottle's glass breaking apart on the ground of the seperate building. A circle of fire erupts around the now illuminated runner's feet, it's groans loud and drawing more attention.

I back up even further away when it burns to the ground and another one rises, staggering towards Joel with needy hands. Before it can come too close, he whips out a pistol and shoots it twice. A third one emerges the darkness, only to be bludgeoned by a stray pipe laying in the grass.

Well.

"Alright.." He catches up with his breath.

"They're recently infected. Those soldiers must've just turned." Tess observes the dead runners as I come closer.

"Which means there's more in the area. We gotta go." Joel says, his jaw locked.

Joel grabs a desk with wheels, rolling outside to the truck.

"Alright." He says under his breath, pulling himself to the top of the truck, Tess and I following after. We drop down, moving on ahead.

"Joel, over here." She waves him toward a chain and door, sort of reminding me of a garage.

"Maybe we can cut through here." He says, beginning to tug on the rusty chains.

"Yeah, that worked out great last time," I say sarcastically over the squeak of the chains. "Sorry. I'm just saying."

A few seconds of more squeaks go by as the door raises little by little, until Tess whispers, "Shh, shh, sh.." And puts an alarmed hand on Joel's shoulder.

"What? I don't hear anything." He stops pulling, turning his head to the side to focus his hearing.

Off in the distance, I hear the new groans of runners. Fuck.

"Okay, double-time." Tess rushes Joel as he pulls even harder, the door raising with loud lurches.

"Shit.." He curses.

"Oh, they're coming." I panic, looking up to Tess.

"I know." Joel grunts, pullng on it one last time.

"Okay, that's good, that's good. Go." Tess rushes, pulling my wrist with her as she goes under.

"Okay, Joel!," Tess yells. "Drop it!"

He does so, and at the very last second, the door slams shut on a walker's arm.

Several animalistic bangs and screeches are heard from the other side. But it's okay.. They're too stupid to open doors.

We all back up in fear, the bangs getting angrier with each passing second.

I glance down at the ground, seeing the walker's bloody arm resting on Joel's left shoe, it's fingers curling around the brown surface.

"Oh- you got something on your shoe." I tap his shoulder, a small smirk on my mouth.

He glances down, and kicks it off as if it happened everyday. "Gross." I mumble.

Their flashlights shine around, cardboard boxes, shelves lying around the place.

"Okay. How do we get out of this place?" Joel asks with tiresome tone.

"Let's find out." Tess shrugs, turning to me. "So, Marlene thinks you're immune?"

"Well, that's what she believes." I shrug.

"Well how were you bitten?," She raises an eyebrow. "I mean you must've been somewhere you shouldn't to find an infected in the zone."

Oops. "Yeah, I'd sneak out. I was in this military boarding school."

Her eyes flashed with doubt. "You'd sneak out?"

"You know, explore the city," I said, my heart sagging a bit at the memory of Riley. "I was in the mall when i ran into infected."

"That place is completely off limits," She said, searching in desk drawers. She's one to speak. She's a smuggler, for God's sake. "How the hell did you get in there?" 

"I.. had my ways," I changed the subject. "Anyway, one of those- what you guys call runners- bit me. And that was that." I walked around, dragging my feet through puddles.

"I see."

Trying to soak up the extra time, I observe the room we're in. There are silver pipes running through the walls like veins, cardboard boxes and workbenches tucked in the corners. The puddles are full of murky rainwater, a sickly brown color.

Once the two of them are finshed scavenging, we head into the next room, which has been absolutely trashed.

The ceiling's wooden panels are sunk to the floor to make a ramp, the glass cabinet is broken into pieces, and the floorboards are all ripped up. The only nice thing in here is a white and blue vase.

I pick it up by the neck, observing the intricate details, but I'm too stupid and clumsy to actually keep it from slipping out of my hands.

"Ow. Shit." I say, dodging the broken porcelain. Oops.

Tess and Joel turn to my with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry. Sorry. That was me." I bite my lip.

"Tess." Joel groans quietly.

" _Sorry_ ," I repeat myself.

"C'mon. Stay close to me." Tess says, brushing off Joel's crassness.

We climb up the split wooden ceiling, reaching the next floor. It reeks in here, the mold nasty as all hell.

With the help of their flashlights, The next floor is a bit like a museum. With the glass cases, dioramas, and plaques, I don't thnk I'm too far off.

"What is this place?" I ask for confirmation.

"An old museum. Some of these things are hundreds of years old." Tess explains. Aha.

"Really? Wow." I marvel at a particular glass case. It has an old soldier's uniform from the 1800's. Sweet.

I walk over the pieces of cracked drywall on the ground, crushing them to powder underneath my feet.

Joel finds a door, half barricaded by wooden planks. We follow after him, and by the second barricade of wooden planks, he prepares to lift them.

"Alrightl watch your head." He warns us. "Hurry, go, go go." He says with strained voice as he lifts them.

Tess and I quickly scurry under the mess of wood, only the damn thing crashes down before he can make it under.

"Sonofa.." He mumbles.

"Joel! Joel!" Tess cries out.

"I'm alive. I'll make my way around to you." He says.

"Oh, Look, they're here!" Tess cries out again as the familiar clicking sound comes into earshot.

"Tess?" I hear Joel call out.

"Run. Run!" I yell at Tess, who's frozen in place. She perks up, as if being woken from a daydream and grabs me by the shoulder. The two of us run as fast as we can up the nearby staircase, Tess grabbing an old baseball bat laying in the ground,

We reached a door, and we took the oppurtunity to use it, slamming it shut behind us.

The runners come banging at the door, thrashing into it. Boy, for dumb things, these guys are pretty damn persistent.

"Oh fuck." Tess curses as a runner staggers inside.

I run into the next room, looking for any weapon that could possibly be of better use.

My fingers scramble for anything that's metal, a gun, a brick, a bottle, anything. But nothing!

I hear a few more kicks at the door across the room, but I know I'll find something. And Tess'll be fine, right? Right?

I hear the runner's thrashing at the door stop, then someone kick it open.

"TESS!" I hear Joel shout.

I dig through the dirt, but nothing. Nothing but the occasional piece of drywall.  
I hear a final grunt from Tess as she bashes in the runner's head. But then..

The door is kicked down. The runners are in. I have nothing to fend for myself.

"Guys, get in here!" I scream as I'm grabbed by the shoulders. The fingers shake me, the runner's face now centimeters away from mine. Their hot breath is fanning my face, pungent with the smell of blood.

"Eugh, Let go!" I scream, thrashing my shoulders away from it.

Joel comes to my rescue, whacking it in the head with a baseball bat. I catch up with my breath, placing my hands on my knees.

Joel and Tess fire away at the other three runners, while I sprint to a hiding place, behind a cabinet.

Several seconds pass, and I almost get grabbed again. It seemed the more they killed, the more showed up.

"That was too damn close." Joel grit his teeth as I stood.

We all walk towards the window, and I observe the sun is now rising.

"Oh, shit." Tess sighs, her hands on her knees, her head hung low.

"Tess? How you holdin' up?" Joel asks with concerned eyes.

"Just a bit winded.. This way. This'll get us to the roof." She climbs out the window.

Joel sighs and turns to me. "How 'bout you kid? You okay?"

I scoff. "Define okay."

"Are you still breathing?"

"..Do small, panicked breaths count?" I wipe the sweat from my forehead.

"Yeah, they count." At least he can talk to me without being an ass.

"Alright. Then I'm okay."

I follow Tess out the window, pulling myself up the missing chunk of the fire-escape.

Once we're all up on the roof, I soak up the wonderful feeling of the cool air. Much nicer than the daytime. It's dewy out, so that adds a refreshing moisture to our skin.

"We gotta find a way across," She begins, gazing at the skyline, backed by a milky purple sky. "There she is.. That's our building."

Joel scans the ground for anything that may help us, and discovers a long plank of wood.

"Stand back." He warns as he hoists it into his arms. He walks over to the top of the fire-escape, plopping the board across to the next rooftop.

"Alright." He pats the top, turning to me. "Now, watch your step as you're going up, cause it's going to be a little-"

"Pssh." I cut him off, stepping onto the board. Seems sturdy enough. I hold out my arms to my sides as I keep my balance, dust from the board fluttering down to the ground.

I jump down onto the next roof, taking in the marvelous sky.

Joel comes up from behind. "Well, is that everything you hoped for?"

I look to him and shrug. "Jury's still out." I turn back. "But man.. You can't deny that view."  
The clouds are all in groups is deep purple, the pastel pinks and oranges swirling together into one big beautiful image.

He 'pssh's and Tess walks ahead of us as he crosses his arms.

"C'mon. This way."

I follow her, gripping the sides of the ladder going down the side of the building. "Hey! Pick it up." She snaps at Joel.

I watch as he reluctantly strolls towards her. "Look we're almost done," Tess says as I begin to descend. "Stay focused."

"Yes, m'am." He says. I can hear the snarl in his voice.

The three of us make it to the ground. We aren't much further now.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. it's been a minute (orthreemonths) okay sorry

P2

ELLIE'S POINT OF VIEW

* * *

We climb up a slippery wooden ramp, the ran continuing to pelt at our skin. 

"Holy moley. I guess this is what these buildings look like up close." I marvel, craning my neck to gaze at the tilted skyscrapers. "They're so damn tall. ..So what happened here?" I ask, observing all of the crashed cars, broken glass, just general mess.

"They bombed the hell out of the surrounding areas to the quarantine zones, hoping to kill as much of the infected as possible," Tess spoke. "It worked- for a little while."

We walked on for a few more moments, a rumble of thunder taking over the sky, triggering a horrid screech from further away.

"Uhhh, what the hell was that?" I ask, as we approach a small hill of broken tile.

"Tess, do ya hear that?" Joel questions, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah. Sounded pretty far away though."

"Shit. Are we safe?" I asked, adjusting the straps of my backpack, avoiding a hazardous puddle.

"For now. Come on." She gestured as we reached the top of the small hill of floor tile and mud.

Tess and I look over the edge, an uneasy feeling settling itself in my stomach.

"Damn.. that's quite a drop." I mumble.

"Well, there's the capitol building." Joel observes, scratching his chin as he looks to his right, past a worn down, broken building.

"Yeah. We need to get around this mess." Tess nods.

"..This is the downtown area?" I ask, feeling annoying. I sure am asking alot of questions.

Tess shrugs. "It was. Now it's a giant wasteland.."

"Over here." Joel leads us three past a small pile of cement bricks, slick with rainwater as we climb over it.

We're on a rooftop, groups of puddles scattered in uneven patterns, the raindrops adding to their masses.

Joel heads over to the right side, observing the shadey looking wall of sniper lights.

"You find anything over there?" He asks.

"No."

"Keep lookin'."

"Should I do anything?" I question, antsy to help out, do  _something_  at least.

"You just stay close to her for now." Joel says. Obviously, he doesn't trust me to do anything. Most adults don't.

"Roger dodger." I sigh.

Tess moves around pieces of rock, digging her fingers into the mud for signs of bullets, while I stand against the wall.

Several streams of water are flowing from the little roof of an extra couple of rooms, landing in the mud. The grass is weighed down by all the rainwater, the tips matted down.

"Hey, Tess!" Joel eventually says after a few minutes, switching on his flashlight.

"Comin'."

I follow, entering the door Joel's stood in. The mangled, dead body of a soldier lays helplessly on the ground. On the wall behind him are thick streaks of blood. His face is so bloodied and messed up you could hardly tell it's a person.

"He's been ripped apart.." Tess observes.

"Yeah.." He mumbles.

"Body's pretty fresh." She continues.

"I-is that bad?" I question, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, might be. Let's not stick around." Tess suggests, turning to Joel.

He nods, avoiding the dead man's legs as we head into the next room, which shows a set of staircases.

We ascend them, and-surprise! Another dead soldier.

"Another one.. Shit." Tess mumbles as Joel picks up a clipboard by the dead man's side.

He scans over the scrawled handwriting. "Looks like these guys died waiting for backup."

We head up the rest of the stairs, and by the sign, it was evident we were at the fifth floor.

We enter the next room, and yet, another dead thing right before our eyes.

It's body was dried out and brittle, leaning up against a door. His head had the cordyceps spread onto the door, a disgusting fungus.

"Goddammit. Clicker." Joel gritted his teeth.

"Geez," I mumble as he grips it's shoulders, preparing to rip it away from the door. "What's wrong with it's face..?"

"That's what years of infection'll do to you." Tess explains.

"So what, are they.. blind?"

"Sort of," She says as Joel pries it from the door with a grunt. "They see using sound."

"Like bats?"  
"Like bats. If you hear one clicking, you gotta hide. That's how they spot you."

Joel bashes his shoulder against the fungus-ridden door, but to no avail. One last time, it budges open.

We walk in, the floor beneath us a bit soggy and uneven.

"Shit." I murmur.

"Whole building feels like it's gonna fall apart." Joel shakes his head as he searches a desk drawer.

He gathers a bottle of pills, crouching down underneath a falling bookcase.

"Watch your head." He warns as we follow.

In the next room, it looks like an office area, with broken computers and half-empty coffee mugs. Tacked up on desks are crayon illustrations their children drew. Family portraits. Sticky notes.

My heart races as an office chair with wheels rolls to to the other side of the tilted room.

"Totally cool.. Everything is totally cool." I calm myself, gripping my wrist, feeling my rapid pulse.

Joel struggles with the next door handle, waving Tess over. "Gimme a hand with this."

One. Nothing. Two. Nothing. Three, it screeches open.

Before I can walk in, Tess yells. "Joel!"

He whips his head to the left, a horrid clicking sound filling my ears.

The fungus-helmeted thing attacks him, knocking Joel to the ground. Joel manages to grab the clicker's neck, preventing it from nipping at his skin.

Tess kicks the clicker's side, knocking it to the floor, it's arms clawing at the air. Her foot is placed on it's chest, and with two pulls of the trigger, he's dead.

Tess turns around to Joel, his body pulled up off the ground.

"Thanks." He says with labored breath.

"You alright?" I ask, a bit worried.

"It's nothin'." He brushes it off.

"Let's search for supplies." Tess suggests, putting her pistol back into her pocket.

She steps over the dead body, my eyes widening as we head into the room across.

"Shit! Oh, that was intense!" I say, my voice weighed down by heavy breath.

"You said it." Tess agrees.

Tess and Joel search the cabinets for any supplies, while I look at the boring, run down soda machine. The tacky design on it says, 'Special Cola'. The big, square buttons have pictures of other sodas on them. Arctic Rain, Mr. Peppy, Lemon-Lime, and other ridiculous names.

After a few minutes pass by of me wondering what they tasted like, a few bone-chilling clicks are heard further off.

"Come on. Let's get the hell out of here." Joel orders.

"Oh, boy.." He murmurs as we enter the next room.

"Up there, look." Tess points.

Up on a balcony type thing, a dead man is flung over the side. His arms are by his head, groups of vines crawling down the walls.

"Yeesh." I bite my lip.

Joel approaches the balcony thingy, bending his knees and holding out his hand as a cup.

"Just, see if there's a way through." He says to Tess as she steps into his hand, using his shoulders as support for her upper body.

She grunts, pulling herself up the wall, swinging her legs over.

She looks behind her, using her flashlight to see through the darkness.

"It's clear. Come on, Ellie."

"Alright, kid. You're up." He says grudgingly as I approach the wall.

"Come on." Tess says as I jump for her hand, grabbing hold of it. A troubled grunt escapes my mouth as I try and pull my own weight. "You got it. There you go."

I stand, stretching out my legs.

"Okay. Come on, big guy. Gimme your hand." She bends down once more to Joel, extending a hand.

I'm amazed at her upper-body strength as she pulls him up, squinting her eyes as she gets him up here.

"Okay." She sighs, catching up with her breath. But there wasn't much time to catch up.

"Clickers?!" She panics, guiding me by the shoulder into the next room.

"Oh shit. Go, go, go." Joel follows.

All three of us crouch behind a desk, myself holding my breath. I try to be as quiet as possible.

The clicker at the door continues the noise. It seems as this sound will haunt me in my dreams. If I ever  _do_ get to sleep.

I close my eyes in fear as I feel a change in weight on the top of the desk, a clicker leaning over the top.

They eventually leave, due to lack of noise, returning to their previous spot.

I watch Tess' fingers (which never seem to shake in fear), reach for a stray glass bottle on the ground.

She launches it over the desk, into the third clicker's head. They let out a loud, groaning click as it makes impact.

We quietly crouch-walk to the next hiding spot,  Joel picking up a brick. He throws it across the room to where we were previous, the noise drawing the clicker towards it.

"That's our way out. Over the scaffolding." Tess whispers to Joel as quietly as possible.

He nods, crouch-walking to the scaffolding, cupping his hands for her to boost in once more.

We repeat the same process, jumping over the platform.

"I think that's it. Ellie, you okay?" Tess asks.

I sigh, adjusting my backpack strap. "Other than shitting my pants- I'm fine."

"Let's go." She nods.

Joel climbs over the top of a blocked staircase, "Gimme a second." He says.

He grips a filing cabinet, dislodging it from the descending staircase.

"Here you go, ladies." He says, once there's enough room for us to drop down.

I grip the railing with one hand, swing my legs over, and let go, dropping to the ground.

"Allright. Come on." Tess says as Joel climbs over the filing cabinet.

We reach the next stairwell, but it's too blocked for us to move the barricades.

"Stairwell's blocked.. Should we go back up?" I suggest.

Tess leans out the window we're stood by, her hands gripping the window washer platform. "Aaghh, this is crazy," She pulls herself over it. "Just.. don't look down." She warns me.

"Wha-? Are you serious?" I question her sanity.

Knowing there's no use in protesting, I tightly grip the railing, swinging myself over as well. My stomach is queasy with the shake of the platform, the slickness of the rain not doing us any better.

Joel follows after without a word after, my stomach dropping as I jump down from this platform to the next one.

"C'mon Ellie." Tess gestures. She's standing with her back against the wall of the building. I've never been fond of heights.

"Yeah.." I say, copying her movements. "Don't look down," I whisper to myself as we begin to inch across the side of the building. "Just don't look down."

"You're okay. We gotta way through." Tess assures me.

We reach a new window, which is conveniently close (and broken).

Joel jumps in after us, descending the stairs.

As we head through the darkness of the next room, I hear the familiar sputtering groan of runners. A bad memory. 

"Runners." Tess quietly groans.

"I'll go check it out," Joel volunteers. "Stay with the girl."

Toss nods reluctantly as he heads out.

"So what was it like before the world went to shit?" I asked.

"For me?" She asked.

"Why not."  
"Well, it was a hell of alot better than this. It had it's ups and downs."

"How'd you meet Joel?"

"Oh, Jesus. Can hardly remember. I think it was-"

Gunshot. Gunshot. Gunshot.

"Guess that's that." Tess says, cracking her neck as Joel speaks with heavy breath.

"Alright, come on down."

Tess whistles as we make our way to him. "I'm impressed, Joel."

Scattered around the ground are several bodies, each with bloodied faces and fatal wounds, to the head, to the chest. 

"Pssh. Let's just get out of here."

We move foeward, entering a big room, tangled in vines and 'CAUTION' tape. Not that it did much good anymore.

Joel pulls himself up a large slab of concrete, Tess and I following.

He approaches a dark green door, his rogh hands gripping the filing cabinet that was in his way. It must've been damn heavy, because the fucking thing would barely budge.

However, with a bit of extra force, the wheels scraped across the floor.

"Tess, come on."

"Alright, hold on."

Tess and I rush into the next room, myself spotting a laundry cart in the corner. Seems like it'll keep the door open.

"Here, this'll work." I point out. patting the top of it.

"Alright, gimme a hand Ellie." We both push it into the doorway, letting Joel release his grip with a grunt.

"Okay. Alright, that should do it." Tess says, observing our work.

"Alright." Joel nods.

He climbs over the cart, landing to the ground with a thump.

"See- doin' alright." Tess says, her breath heavy.

"Uh-huh." Joel says plainly.

He collects a bottle of cleaning alcohol, dampens a rag with it, and carefully wraps it around his forearm.

"Whoa.." I gaze as we walk through the door, the floor we're standing on unfinished, torn apart i the middle, revealing the floor below.

"Down we go." Tess says, turning to the left, making our way down a slab of cement.

"Let's get to it." he leads us. "We can get through here. Watch your back." He warns as we crouch under the cramped space.

We drop down to the next area, the dirt spong and the grass slippery,

"Y'know I was thinkin'..," We make a turn. "after we get back, we can take it easy for a while." Tess says to joel.

I wonder what their whole 'relatonship' is. Dating? Partners? Just two smugglers trying to get by?

We slink underneath a little tunnel.

"You wanna take it easy?" Joel asks, clearly not prepared for her suggestion.

"Hey, you're the one always goin' on about laying low." She defends herself.

"And  _you_ always brushed me off." You can practically hear the stern eyebrow raise in his voice.

"Well. I won't this time." She shrugs as we can finally stand.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Oh, couple arguments.

Joel leads us into yet another hole in the wall, a dried, dead body hanging from the side.

I do my best to ignore it as I climb in after Tess, my sneakers squeaking against the wet concrete.

We reach the end of the hole, Joel pulling himself up onto the ground above, then Tess, then me. I do my best to avoid the sparkling stream of rainwater falling from the ceiling.

We carefully make our way under a half-broken ceiling chunk, made of tacky orange tile and encrusted with deep green mold. We drop down from another platform, the water settling itself in puddles in the bottoms of my shoes. I hate soggy socks.

Joel grabs a pair of scissors and tape. He quickly combines the two, making it into what looks like a shiv.

"Joel, through here." Tess says, walking through a mess of crashed drywall and rocks and signs.

I follow behind them, bracing myself as I drop my feet into the shallow water. I really, really hope I won't have to swim. This looked like a subway station, maybe.

"Look at his sleeve," Tess observes a we approach. At her feet is the helpless body of a dead man. "Firefly."  
She's right. The Firefly symbol is imprinted around his shoulder, splattered with blood stains.

"Yep," Joel says, leaning down by his side. "These guys aren't doin' well in or out of the city." He picks up a glass bottle from the ground, filled with an amber liquid. "Now let's hope there's someone alive to meet us at the drop off."

What if there isn't? What would we do? I wonder.

I turn with releuctance, following Tess up the stairs, Joel stopping to pick up a note from another dead body.

"They're from the quarantine zone." He says after scanning over it.

"See? They're not our guys." Tess raises an eyebrow, in an ' I told you so ' manner.

Walking back down, the two of them wave around their flashlights, looking for any useful supplies.

Every place we turn is blocked off, until Joel comes across a small space in a blockade we find in the doorway.

As soon as we crouch under, we hear the alarming and unfortunately familiar noises of clickers. 

"Over there," Joel whispers. "See 'em?"

"Shit.." Tess groans under her breath. "God, we're almost out," She peeks over a countertop. "Okay, Joel, you take point, I'll watc the rear. Ellie," She turns to me with cautious eyes. "No matter what, you stay right on his heels,"

"Sure." I nod.

"You stay sharp." She says.

"I got it." Joel says quietly as I hide behind the brick of concrete.

I watch with careful eyes as Joel crouch-walks forward, avoiding any possibly hazardous noise-makers.

I copy his actions with silent feet as I move to his side, bending down so my shadow doesn't disturb the glow of his flashlight.

We're literally  _right next_  to clicker who is bent on it's knees, it's head trashing from side to side.

My heart races as a clicker comes up from behind. it's legs staggering across the floor. I grudgingly, slowly move my feet across the floor, trying as hard as I could not to make any noise as I catch up with Joel.

The three of us jump into the neighboring room of the hallway, our feet's impact with the ground only drawing a particularly loud click.

All of us move from hiding spot to hiding spot, behind payphones, benches, movie signs.

We jump in to the next room, Joel whspering, "This way. We're almost out of this, Come on."

Joel approaches a particular clicker in our way, stands, and hooks his forearm around the clicker's neck. He takes out the shiv and buries it into it's neck, causing it to fall to the ground without a sound.

He looks up to the ceiling, where a metal ladder rests.

"Alright, c'mon." He says as Tess steps into his cupped hand. She easily grabs the ladder, sliding it to the ground.

Joel climbs up it first wiith careful feet, then Tess, then I. The three of us walk through a hole in the wall, then dropping to the ground. I'm just glad we're out of that fucking place.

There's another gaping hole in the wall, the size of a small house, maybe, and we walk through it, back outside.

"Which way we goin', Tess?" Joel asks, clearly exasperated from keeping around this cargo for so long.

"Uh..," She scratches her chin. "Capitol building's in this direction." She points in front of her as she looks at the dark skyline.

We walk for a few seconds of silence, until yet another problem awaits. "How do we get over this truck? ..Let see what we can find.."

The truck has an illustration of a bright red crab on it, extending it's pinchers. The trucks' too high for a boost..

I watch Joel as he approaches a building with the side knocked out, looking from side to side.

I'm a bit further away, so i can't see. He pulls out the bottle of amber liquid again and prepares to launch. What good would a bottle do? Judging from the lack of noise, there were no clickers.

He launches it, the bottle's glass breaking apart on the ground of the seperate building. A circle of fire erupts around the now illuminated runner's feet, it's groans loud and drawing more attention.

I back up even further away when it burns to the ground and another one rises, staggering towards Joel with needy hands. Before it can come too close, he whips out a pistol and shoots it twice. A third one emerges the darkness, only to be bludgeoned by a stray pipe laying in the grass.

Well.

"Alright.." He catches up with his breath.

"They're recently infected. Those soldiers must've just turned." Tess observes the dead runners as I come closer.

"Which means there's more in the area. We gotta go." Joel says, his jaw locked.

Joel grabs a desk with wheels, rolling outside to the truck.

"Alright." He says under his breath, pulling himself to the top of the truck, Tess and I following after. We drop down, moving on ahead.

"Joel, over here." She waves him toward a chain and door, sort of reminding me of a garage.

"Maybe we can cut through here." He says, beginning to tug on the rusty chains.

"Yeah, that worked out great last time," I say sarcastically over the squeak of the chains. "Sorry. I'm just saying."

A few seconds of more squeaks go by as the door raises little by little, until Tess whispers, "Shh, shh, sh.." And puts an alarmed hand on Joel's shoulder.

"What? I don't hear anything." He stops pulling, turning his head to the side to focus his hearing.

Off in the distance, I hear the new groans of runners. Fuck.

"Okay, double-time." Tess rushes Joel as he pulls even harder, the door raising with loud lurches.

"Shit.." He curses.

"Oh, they're coming." I panic, looking up to Tess.

"I know." Joel grunts, pullng on it one last time.

"Okay, that's good, that's good. Go." Tess rushes, pulling my wrist with her as she goes under.

"Okay, Joel!," Tess yells. "Drop it!"

He does so, and at the very last second, the door slams shut on a walker's arm.

Several animalistic bangs and screeches are heard from the other side. But it's okay.. They're too stupid to open doors.

We all back up in fear, the bangs getting angrier with each passing second.

I glance down at the ground, seeing the walker's bloody arm resting on Joel's left shoe, it's fingers curling around the brown surface.

"Oh- you got something on your shoe." I tap his shoulder, a small smirk on my mouth.

He glances down, and kicks it off as if it happened everyday. "Gross." I mumble.

Their flashlights shine around, cardboard boxes, shelves lying around the place.

"Okay. How do we get out of this place?" Joel asks with tiresome tone.

"Let's find out." Tess shrugs, turning to me. "So, Marlene thinks you're immune?"

"Well, that's what she believes." I shrug.

"Well how were you bitten?," She raises an eyebrow. "I mean you must've been somewhere you shouldn't to find an infected in the zone."

Oops. "Yeah, I'd sneak out. I was in this military boarding school."

Her eyes flashed with doubt. "You'd sneak out?"

"You know, explore the city," I said, my heart sagging a bit at the memory of Riley. "I was in the mall when i ran into infected."

"That place is completely off limits," She said, searching in desk drawers. She's one to speak. She's a smuggler, for God's sake. "How the hell did you get in there?" 

"I.. had my ways," I changed the subject. "Anyway, one of those- what you guys call runners- bit me. And that was that." I walked around, dragging my feet through puddles.

"I see."

Trying to soak up the extra time, I observe the room we're in. There are silver pipes running through the walls like veins, cardboard boxes and workbenches tucked in the corners. The puddles are full of murky rainwater, a sickly brown color.

Once the two of them are finshed scavenging, we head into the next room, which has been absolutely trashed.

The ceiling's wooden panels are sunk to the floor to make a ramp, the glass cabinet is broken into pieces, and the floorboards are all ripped up. The only nice thing in here is a white and blue vase.

I pick it up by the neck, observing the intricate details, but I'm too stupid and clumsy to actually keep it from slipping out of my hands.

"Ow. Shit." I say, dodging the broken porcelain. Oops.

Tess and Joel turn to my with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry. Sorry. That was me." I bite my lip.

"Tess." Joel groans quietly.

" _Sorry_ ," I repeat myself.

"C'mon. Stay close to me." Tess says, brushing off Joel's crassness.

We climb up the split wooden ceiling, reaching the next floor. It reeks in here, the mold nasty as all hell.

With the help of their flashlights, The next floor is a bit like a museum. With the glass cases, dioramas, and plaques, I don't thnk I'm too far off.

"What is this place?" I ask for confirmation.

"An old museum. Some of these things are hundreds of years old." Tess explains. Aha.

"Really? Wow." I marvel at a particular glass case. It has an old soldier's uniform from the 1800's. Sweet.

I walk over the pieces of cracked drywall on the ground, crushing them to powder underneath my feet.

Joel finds a door, half barricaded by wooden planks. We follow after him, and by the second barricade of wooden planks, he prepares to lift them.

"Alrightl watch your head." He warns us. "Hurry, go, go go." He says with strained voice as he lifts them.

Tess and I quickly scurry under the mess of wood, only the damn thing crashes down before he can make it under.

"Sonofa.." He mumbles.

"Joel! Joel!" Tess cries out.

"I'm alive. I'll make my way around to you." He says.

"Oh, Look, they're here!" Tess cries out again as the familiar clicking sound comes into earshot.

"Tess?" I hear Joel call out.

"Run. Run!" I yell at Tess, who's frozen in place. She perks up, as if being woken from a daydream and grabs me by the shoulder. The two of us run as fast as we can up the nearby staircase, Tess grabbing an old baseball bat laying in the ground,

We reached a door, and we took the oppurtunity to use it, slamming it shut behind us.

The runners come banging at the door, thrashing into it. Boy, for dumb things, these guys are pretty damn persistent.

"Oh fuck." Tess curses as a runner staggers inside.

I run into the next room, looking for any weapon that could possibly be of better use.

My fingers scramble for anything that's metal, a gun, a brick, a bottle, anything. But nothing!

I hear a few more kicks at the door across the room, but I know I'll find something. And Tess'll be fine, right? Right?

I hear the runner's thrashing at the door stop, then someone kick it open.

"TESS!" I hear Joel shout.

I dig through the dirt, but nothing. Nothing but the occasional piece of drywall.  
I hear a final grunt from Tess as she bashes in the runner's head. But then..

The door is kicked down. The runners are in. I have nothing to fend for myself.

"Guys, get in here!" I scream as I'm grabbed by the shoulders. The fingers shake me, the runner's face now centimeters away from mine. Their hot breath is fanning my face, pungent with the smell of blood.

"Eugh, Let go!" I scream, thrashing my shoulders away from it.

Joel comes to my rescue, whacking it in the head with a baseball bat. I catch up with my breath, placing my hands on my knees.

Joel and Tess fire away at the other three runners, while I sprint to a hiding place, behind a cabinet.

Several seconds pass, and I almost get grabbed again. It seemed the more they killed, the more showed up.

"That was too damn close." Joel grit his teeth as I stood.

We all walk towards the window, and I observe the sun is now rising.

"Oh, shit." Tess sighs, her hands on her knees, her head hung low.

"Tess? How you holdin' up?" Joel asks with concerned eyes.

"Just a bit winded.. This way. This'll get us to the roof." She climbs out the window.

Joel sighs and turns to me. "How 'bout you kid? You okay?"

I scoff. "Define okay."

"Are you still breathing?"

"..Do small, panicked breaths count?" I wipe the sweat from my forehead.

"Yeah, they count." At least he can talk to me without being an ass.

"Alright. Then I'm okay."

I follow Tess out the window, pulling myself up the missing chunk of the fire-escape.

Once we're all up on the roof, I soak up the wonderful feeling of the cool air. Much nicer than the daytime. It's dewy out, so that adds a refreshing moisture to our skin.

"We gotta find a way across," She begins, gazing at the skyline, backed by a milky purple sky. "There she is.. That's our building."

Joel scans the ground for anything that may help us, and discovers a long plank of wood.

"Stand back." He warns as he hoists it into his arms. He walks over to the top of the fire-escape, plopping the board across to the next rooftop.

"Alright." He pats the top, turning to me. "Now, watch your step as you're going up, cause it's going to be a little-"

"Pssh." I cut him off, stepping onto the board. Seems sturdy enough. I hold out my arms to my sides as I keep my balance, dust from the board fluttering down to the ground.

I jump down onto the next roof, taking in the marvelous sky.

Joel comes up from behind. "Well, is that everything you hoped for?"

I look to him and shrug. "Jury's still out." I turn back. "But man.. You can't deny that view."  
The clouds are all in groups is deep purple, the pastel pinks and oranges swirling together into one big beautiful image.

He 'pssh's and Tess walks ahead of us as he crosses his arms.

"C'mon. This way."

I follow her, gripping the sides of the ladder going down the side of the building. "Hey! Pick it up." She snaps at Joel.

I watch as he reluctantly strolls towards her. "Look we're almost done," Tess says as I begin to descend. "Stay focused."

"Yes, m'am." He says. I can hear the snarl in his voice.

The three of us make it to the ground. We aren't much further now.

 


	5. [P4]

P3

ELLIE'S POINT OF VIEW

* * *

The three of us drop down to the spongy, damp ground, the capitol building not much further.

"It's right around this corner," Tess points. "Come on."

"Let's keep movin', kid." He pats my shoulder as we begin walking. Coincidence how he starts being so nice as soon as we're so close.

We walk down the pair of wide metal stairs, landing in someone's abandoned backyard.

I jiggle the handle of the rusty gate, only to no avail.

"Watch out, kid." Joel says. I turn around, seeing he has a bent up dumpster in his grip.

"Sorry."

He places it infront of the gate, pulling himself up. Then Tess, then me.

On the top of the gate is a wooden pallet with three cans of white paint. No paintbrush, though. No white streaks anywhere. Strange.

"There we go," Joel says as we drop onto the ground. "Home stretch, Tess."

I look ahead of me with cautious eyes. Lays in my way is a swamp of cars, of roadsigns, of lilypads and leaves.

"Um, just so it's out there, I can't swim.." I say before I step foot in the water. I never really had the oppurtunity to learn.

Tess sighs, scanning the area. "Look, it looks like it's shallow on the right side. Follow me."

My legs dip deep into the water, letting the lilypads swim away from my path gracefully.

"..I'm glad Marlene hired you guys." I say out of the blue. They didn't want to kill me. Well, for the most part..

"What do you mean?" Tess asks as we wade further.

"I know you guys are getting paid for this but- I'm trying to say thanks."

"Yeah, sure thing." Tess says, raising her arms, keeping them from getting wet.

We reach the stairs of the capitol building, the water dripping from my legs and squishing in my sneakers.

We let Joel open the door for us, and before I can even see in, I hear him sigh with dismay.

"No," Tess runs over to the dead body. "No, no, no."

I walk inside, only scrunching up my nose for a second. There's a pool of blood around the dead Firefly, and Tess is frantically patting down his jacket and pockets.

"What happens now?" I ask, looking back to Joel's hardened face.

He doesn't answer me. Just walks over to frantic Tess. "What are you doin', Tess?"

"Oh. God." She says under her breath. "Maybe they ah, maybe they had a map, or something to tell us where they were going." She explains with a sniffle.

"How far are we gonna take this?" Joel asks her with concerned eyes.

"As far as it needs to go!" She overlaps his words. She looks to me with hopeful eyes. "Where was this lab of theirs?"

Oh God, think, think... "Oh, she never said, she only mentioned it was some place out west." I furrowed my eyebrows.

Joel's voice became more steady and loud. "What are we doing here? This is  _not_ us."

She sighs, clearly exasperated. "What do you know about us?" She lashes out. "About me?"

"I know that you are smarter than _this._ " Joel stares her down.

"Really?," She begins, holding out her arms. "Guess what, we're shitty people Joel, it's been that way for a long time."

"No, we are  _survivors!"_ He yells.

"This is our chance!" She says, overlapping his words, her brown eyes looking up into his.

"It is  _over,_ Tess!" He yells with a force so strong it could've knocked over the Statue of Liberty. "Now we tried. Let's just go home."

"I'm not- I'm not going anywhere.. This is my last stop." She says with a shaky voice, her eyes focusing on his. Oh my God. No.. no..

"What?" He looks at her, doubting her sad look.

She swallows her fear. "Our luck had to run out sooner or later." She turns to her side, glancing at the dead Firefly.

"What are you goin' on about-" He touches her back.

"No, don't-" She says, her voice high-pitched, as if a warning. Shit. "Don't touch me."

I slowly inch closer to them. "Holy shit," I say the next words as if they were to horrible to be true, like they couldn't possibly slip out of my mouth. "She's infected."

Joel takes two slow steps back as she looks at the ground, then back up to his angry expression. "Joel."

"Let me see it." He demands, his voice gentler.

"I didn't mean for this-" She shakes her head subtly.

" _Show it to me."_ He orders her.

She reluctantly grabs the magenta collar of her shirt, tearing it back for him to see her shoulder. The bite's raw, red, and it has the same little bumps as I did when I got bit.

I glance down to my right arm, noticing I was absentmindedly running my fingers over the scar.

"Oh, Christ.." Joel says with unsteady tone.

"Oops. Right?" She snaps.

She walks over to me. "Give me your arm."

She grabs the arm, rolling up the black undershirt's sleeve I had under my favorite t-shirt.

"This was  _three weeks,"_  She points to it, whipping her head towards a doubtful Joel. She walks me closer to him. "I was bitten an hour ago, and it's already worse.  _This is fucking real,_  Joel."

She lets me go, as I rub the sore spot where she clenched my skin.

"You've _got_ to get this girl to Tommy's. He used to run with this crew, he'll know where to go."

"No, no, no, no, that was  _your_ crusade," He points a finger at her, then to me. "I am  _not_ doing that."

"Yes, you are." She clearly won't take no for an answer. "Look, there's enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me. So you get her to Tommy's."

She folds her hands together and stands close to his face, trying anything to convince him as I stand awkwardly behind them.

"Shit." Joel says as soon as we hear the incoming of a soldier's truck.

"Watch the exit!" I hear them yell.

How could they possibly know we were here?  
Tess looks out the window, pulling out her pistol.

"They're here." She turns back to us.  
"Dammit." Joel mumbles.

"I can buy you some time, but you have to run." She explains.

"What? You want us to just leave you here?" I ask. I could never make this kind of decision.

"Yes." She says, keeping her gaze focused on Joel.  
"There is no way that-" he begins to protest.

She cuts him off. "I will  _not_  turn into one of those things." She confronts him. "Come on. Make this easy for me." She pleas.

".. I can fight." Joel begins.

"No, just go!," She pushes him on the chest. "Just  _fucking_ go."

"Ellie-" Joel grimaces towards me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't- I didn't mean for this." I stutter.

"Get a move on."

I take one last glance at Tess, seeing her nod towards Joel. God, I'm going to miss her.

Joel closes the door behind us, almost lingering at it. 

"What the  _fuck?_ ," I ask, outraged. "I can't believe we did that!"  
"Stop."

I groan. "We just left her to die."

" _Stop_. You stay close to me. We have to move." He hardens his voice.

"Oh man.."

He turns to the staircase. "We'll go upstairs. We can probably get out from there."

I run right behind him, as I can already hear the gunshots being fired.

"Just keep pushing forward." I can't tell if he's saying that to me or himself. He's the person who needs it more than me.

We rush through a big doorway, immediately halting as we hear a male voice.

"Oh my god." I whisper, crouching down so I won't be seen.

"Target neutralized. She took out two of my men. ..Copy that. You, take out the door. You, with me."

"Tess.." I whisper, looking down at the ground. She's now in her own pool of cherry red blood, lifeless.. Fuck.

The men move through the door we left from, so we have to move, quick.

"They're gonna be here soon." I mumble as they begin thrashing the doors.

Joel pulls out his revolver, reloads and cocks it, having it at the ready.

"We're through!" The men yell.

"We should move." I think he's in shock of all that just happened.

We run through the arched doorway on the left, jumping through the hole in the wall to the next section of the building.

Joel stops by a corpse, loosening it's finger's grip around the gun it was holding. A hunting rifle.

"They're escaping into the hall! Go around!" I hear a soldier yell.

"What do we do?" I ask as we crouch, hiding in front of the blood splattered tables with white tablecloths. "Joel?!"

"I got you." He says as I hide in front of him, his arm leaning against the table. "Stay with me, come on." He says as we sneak into the next room, past the soldiers.

We quietly crouch-walk through the next two rooms. They looked something like an office space.

We reach a single soldier with a pointed pistol, ready to shoot infront of him. Only Joel throws a glass bottle to the soldier's side, distracting him. Wow. Just as dumb as a clicker.

Joel comes up behind him, strangling him as quietly as possible.

The soldier crumples to the ground in a heap of death, while I am fascinated by Joel's ability to kill. "Holy shit!" I whisper.

We reach a staircase, Joel making sure it was safe by peeking around the corner. Once we reach the bottom, I think it's safe enough to actually speak.

"What're we doing? Joel, how are we gonna get out of here?"

We walk into the next room. Well, judging by the next set of voices we here, guess it isn't safe enough to speak.

"Alright," He whispers. "We're gonna go through that hall." He points to the northwest. "Stay down, I don't know how many more there are."

I do as told, crouching so I can't be seen.

We sneak into the hall, hiding behind another table.

"Oh, shit." I whisper to myself as a soldier begins circling the table with us.

Joel leads us into the next room.

"They still haven't found the last two." One man says.

"I heard one of 'em was a kid." Fuck.

"Report!," A new voice says. "North clear, no target!"  
"Hold your positions!"

"Joel, there's the exit." I whisper, pointing to the gaping hole in the wall.

At the most inconvenient time possible, a pair of soldiers comes waltzing in.

Joel and I wait by a pair of tables for them to migrate to the other side of the building before leaving, which takes a few minutes. Long, boring, anxiety filled minutes.

We finally find the perfect moment to sneak out of the building, slink down the stairs and back into the water.

"There are stairs over there." I whisper, pointing him towards them.

He nods in thanks. "Stay low."  
We quietly wade through the water with folded backs, keeping our heads down, but it doesn't seem to do any good.

As we reach the bottom of the subway, a soldier's voice yells, "They're goin' into the subway! Stop 'em!"

The roar and gurgle of a tank reaches the top of the stairs, and if it weren't for the narrow entrance, it could've rolled down the stairs and smashed us.

"Shit, they're following us!" I yell as Joel catches up behind me.

They begin shooting rapidly, pretty much open fire as the darkness of the subway doesn't help their aim. Not that I particularly have a problem with it.

"Goddammit." Joel hisses as we jump ontop of strange turning devices.

I rush ahead of him as I turn down a hallway, one with spores in it. I don't need to worry about it, but Joel does. He'll be okay.

The fogginess that the spores produce is clouding my vision, but I can definitely see the outlines of soldiers ahead of me.

I crouch behind an unidentifiable object, waiting for Joel to enter.

Once I see that he has his gasmask on, I pull him down by the arm. "Get down."

"No target. I repeat no target." I hear one of the soldiers say.

"There's a soldier over there." I whisper.

Joel turns to me, the gasmask a bit frightening. "How the hell are you breathin' in this stuff?"

"I wasn't lying to you." I stare at him through the plastic.

"Did you spot 'em?" A soldier asks.  
"No. The place is empty."

"Search the area. Let's find them and then get the hell out of here before clickers show up."

Joel waits for a the first soldier to come close to us before nabbing him by the neck, delving a shiv into the man's neck. I can't help want to assist Joel.

Once the man is deflated into the ground, we quietly travel across the room. He gets spotted. Before the soldier can even aim, Joel knees him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground and against the wall.

Without a second thought, he knees the soldier's head, right inbetween his eyes.

"Geez.." I murmur as I follow Joel's path.

We cut through a couple of subway cars before we reach the water once again.

"Hey, uh.. I can't swim." I say, waiting behind as he steps into the water.

"We'll figure something out."

He dives into the water, looking for something to use.

I squint through the defiled air, seeing something of a rectangular shape, but curved on the end like a candy-cane. A flashlight!

I pick it up, finding the button on the bottom. The circle of light glows onto the dirty floor, but I can actually see. Not a bad find.  
"It still works!" I exclaim to myself.

Joel emerges from the water, a pallet of wood in his hands, swimming towards me. "Get on."

"Really?" I ask, unsure.

"Ellie."

"Okay, okay." I say, jumping onto the pallet. "Be careful." I ask as he begins moving.

"I gotcha." He assures me, reaching the other side.

I unbend my legs, pulling myself up the side.

I spot a metal ladder laying on the side of the ground, scraping it across the concrete and into the water for Joel to climb up.

"I got it." He says, climbing the rungs. "Alright, let's get out of here." He says, turning a corner.

We finally see a staircase, the outside light cutting through the darkness like a knife through butter.

Once we reach the top, he removes the gasmask, shaking out the excess water, coughing a bit.

He sits down to rest on a rock nearby, placing his fist under his chest.

I awkwardly put my hands on my hips, looking up to him. "Hey look, um.. about Tess.. I don't even know what to-"

He cuts me off with a hard voice. "Here's how this thing's gonna play out. You don't bring up Tess- ever," I hang my head low. "Matter of fact, we can just keep our histories to ourselves. Secondly, don't tell anyone about your.. condition. They'll either think you're crazy or try to kill you. And lastly you do what I say, when I say it."

I have to force myself to refrain from rolling my eyes at that last part. I'm not some child. I  _can_ make correct decisions. I'm not some damn 7 year old.

"We clear?"

I hang my head, nodding. "Sure."

"Repeat it." He spits.

"What you say goes." I look him straight in the eye, my eyebrows hanging low on my forehead.

He sighs. "Good. Now there's a.. town a few miles north of here, there's a fella there that owes me some favors. Good chance he could get us a car." He stands and turns around.

"Okay." I say plainly, removing the dirt from underneath my fingernails.

"Let's get a move on."


End file.
